Heart's Treasures
by Starlight Rose
Summary: AU story loosely based on the Grimm's Fairytale of Thousand Furs. Sakura, a princess who must flee when a hostile kingdom attacks, disguises herself and comes to work for and befriend Syaoran, a lonely young king. SS ET
1. Thousand FursActual Fairytale by the Bro...

Thousand Furs  
by  
Brothers Grimm  
  
A.N. This belongs completely to the Brother's Grimm. I'm only posting this so as people who are not familiar with the fairytale can compare my story to the fairytale and see how different they are.  
  
Disclaimer: I'm making no profit off of this so please you ghost of the Grimm's brothers don't haunt me. I'm sharing your work with people unfamiliar with it.  
  
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There was once a king, whose queen had hair of the purest gold, and was so beautiful that her match was not to be met with on the whole face of the earth. But this beautiful queen fell ill, and when she felt that her end drew near she called the king to her and said, 'Promise me that you will never marry again, unless you meet with a wife who is as beautiful as I am, and who has golden hair like mine.' Then when the king in his grief promised all she asked, she shut her eyes and died. But the king was not to be comforted, and for a long time never thought of taking another wife. At last, however, his wise men said, 'this will not do; the king must marry again, that we may have a queen.' So messengers were sent far and wide, to seek for a bride as beautiful as the late queen. But there was no princess in the world so beautiful; and if there had been, still there was not one to be found who had golden hair. So the messengers came home, and had had all their trouble for nothing.  
  
Now the king had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her mother, and had the same golden hair. And when she was grown up, the king looked at her and saw that she was just like this late queen: then he said to his courtiers, 'May I not marry my daughter? She is the very image of my dead wife: unless I have her, I shall not find any bride upon the whole earth, and you say there must be a queen.' When the courtiers heard this they were shocked, and said, 'Heaven forbid that a father should marry his daughter! Out of so great a sin no good can come.' And his daughter was also shocked, but hoped the king would soon give up such thoughts; so she said to him, 'Before I marry anyone I must have three dresses: one must be of gold, like the sun; another must be of shining silver, like the moon; and a third must be dazzling as the stars: besides this, I want a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must give a part of his skin.' And thus she though he would think of the matter no more. But the king made the most skilful workmen in his kingdom weave the three dresses: one golden, like the sun; another silvery, like the moon; and a third sparkling, like the stars: and his hunters were told to hunt out all the beasts in his kingdom, and to take the finest fur out of their skins: and thus a mantle of a thousand furs was made.   
  
When all were ready, the king sent them to her; but she got up in the night when all were asleep, and took three of her trinkets, a golden ring, a golden necklace, and a golden brooch, and packed the three dresses--of the sun, the moon, and the stars--up in a nutshell, and wrapped herself up in the mantle made of all sorts of fur, and besmeared her face and hands with soot. Then she threw herself upon Heaven for help in her need, and went away, and journeyed on the whole night, till at last she came to a large wood. As she was very tired, she sat herself down in the hollow of a tree and soon fell asleep: and there she slept on till it was midday.   
  
Now as the king to whom the wood belonged was hunting in it, his dogs came to the tree, and began to snuff about, and run round and round, and bark. 'Look sharp!' said the king to the huntsmen, 'and see what sort of game lies there.' And the huntsmen went up to the tree, and when they came back again said, 'In the hollow tree there lies a most wonderful beast, such as we never saw before; its skin seems to be of a thousand kinds of fur, but there it lies fast asleep.' 'See,' said the king, 'if you can catch it alive, and we will take it with us.' So the huntsmen took it up, and the maiden awoke and was greatly frightened, and said, 'I am a poor child that has neither father nor mother left; have pity on me and take me with you.' Then they said, 'Yes, Miss Thousand Furs, you will do for the kitchen; you can sweep up the ashes, and do things of that sort.' So they put her into the coach, and took her home to the king's palace. Then they showed her a little corner under the staircase, where no light of day ever peeped in, and said, 'Thousand Furs, you may lie and sleep there.' And she was sent into the kitchen, and made to fetch wood and water, to blow the fire, pluck the poultry, pick the herbs, sift the ashes, and do all the dirty work.   
  
Thus Thousand Furs lived for a long time very sorrowfully. 'Ah! pretty princess!' thought she, 'what will now become of thee?' But it happened one day that a feast was to be held in the king's castle, so she said to the cook, 'May I go up a little while and see what is going on? I will take care and stand behind the door.' And the cook said, 'Yes, you may go, but be back again in half an hour's time, to rake out the ashes.' Then she took her little lamp, and went into her cabin, and took off the fur skin, and washed the soot from off her face and hands, so that her beauty shone forth like the sun from behind the clouds. She next opened her nutshell, and brought out of it the dress that shone like the sun, and so went to the feast. Everyone made way for her, for nobody knew her, and they thought she could be no less than a king's daughter. But the king came up to her, and held out his hand and danced with her; and he thought in his heart, 'I never saw any one half so beautiful.'   
  
When the dance was at an end she curtsied; and when the king looked round for her, she was gone, no one knew wither. The guards that stood at the castle gate were called in: but they had seen no one. The truth was, that she had run into her little cabin, pulled off her dress, blackened her face and hands, put on the fur-skin cloak, and was Thousand Furs again. When she went into the kitchen to her work, and began to rake the ashes, the cook said, 'Let that alone till the morning, and heat the king's soup; I should like to run up now and give a peep: but take care you don't let a hair fall into it, or you will run a chance of never eating again.'  
  
As soon as the cook went away, Thousand Furs heated the king's soup, and toasted a slice of bread first, as nicely as ever she could; and when it was ready, she went and looked in the cabin for her little golden ring, and put it into the dish in which the soup was. When the dance was over, the king ordered his soup to be brought in; and it pleased him so well, that he thought he had never tasted any so good before. At the bottom he saw a gold ring lying; and as he could not make out how it had got there, he ordered the cook to be sent for. The cook was frightened when he heard the order, and said to Thousand Furs, 'You must have let a hair fall into the soup; if it be so, you will have a good beating.' Then he went before the king, and he asked him who had cooked the soup. 'I did,' answered the cook. But the king said, 'That is not true; it was better done than you could do it.' Then he answered, 'To tell the truth I did not cook it, but Thousand Furs did.' 'Then let Thousand Furs come up,' said the king: and when she came he said to her, 'Who are you?' 'I am a poor child,' said she, 'that has lost both father and mother.' 'How came you in my palace?' asked he. 'I am good for nothing,' said she, 'but to be scullion-girl, and to have boots and shoes thrown at my head.' 'But how did you get the ring that was in the soup?' asked the king. Then she would not own that she knew anything about the ring; so the king sent her away again about her business.   
  
After a time there was another feast, and Thousand Furs asked the cook to let her go up and see it as before. 'Yes,' said he, 'but come again in half an hour, and cook the king the soup that he likes so much.' Then she ran to her little cabin, washed herself quickly, and took her dress out which was silvery as the moon, and put it on; and when she went in, looking like a king's daughter, the king went up to her, and rejoiced at seeing her again, and when the dance began he danced with her. After the dance was at an end she managed to slip out, so slyly that the king did not see where she was gone; but she sprang into her little cabin, and made herself into Thousand Furs again, and went into the kitchen to cook the soup. Whilst the cook was above stairs, she got the golden necklace and dropped it into the soup; then it was brought to the king, who ate it, and it pleased him as well as before; so he sent for the cook, who was again forced to tell him that Thousand Furs had cooked it. Thousand Furs was brought again before the king, but she still told him that she was only fit to have boots and shoes thrown at her head.  
  
But when the king had ordered a feast to be got ready for the third time, it happened just the same as before. 'You must be a witch, Thousand Furs,' said the cook; 'for you always put something into your soup, so that it pleases the king better than mine.' However, he let her go up as before. Then she put on her dress which sparkled like the stars, and went into the ball-room in it; and the king danced with her again, and thought she had never looked so beautiful as she did then. So whilst he was dancing with her, he put a gold ring on her finger without her seeing it, and ordered that the dance should be kept up a long time. When it was at an end, he would have held her fast by the hand, but she slipped away, and sprang so quickly through the crowd that he lost sight of her: and she ran as fast as she could into her little cabin under the stairs. But this time she kept away too long, and stayed beyond the half-hour; so she had not time to take off her fine dress, and threw her fur mantle over it, and in her haste did not blacken herself all over with soot, but left one of her fingers white.   
  
Then she ran into the kitchen, and cooked the king's soup; and as soon as the cook was gone, she put the golden brooch into the dish. When the king got to the bottom, he ordered Thousand Furs to be called once more, and soon saw the white finger, and the ring that he had put on it whilst they were dancing: so he seized her hand, and kept fast hold of it, and when she wanted to loose herself and spring away, the fur cloak fell off a little on one side, and the starry dress sparkled underneath it.   
  
Then he got hold of the fur and tore it off, and her golden hair and beautiful form were seen, and she could no longer hide herself: so she washed the soot and ashes from her face, and showed herself to be the most beautiful princess upon the face of the earth. But the king said, 'You are my beloved bride, and we will never more be parted from each other.' And the wedding feast was held, and a merry day it was, as ever was heard of or seen in that country, or indeed in any other. 


	2. Heart's Treasures: Prologue

Heart's Treasures: Prologue  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: This story is based on the Grimm's fairytale, Thousand Furs, with several alterations made by me. The CCS characters in this story belong to Clamp.  
  
A.N. After a long break from S+S because I was tired of all the S+S stories out there, I'm back with another S+S romance. This time I'm trying something new and writing an alternate universe story based on the fairytale of Thousand Furs. Yes there will be lots of angst and drama in this one as well as romance so don't worry. If I can I'll also put in a lot of action as well, but no magic or a very small amount of it. Do not expect a CCS story like An Unfinished Task. This is an original story based on the fairytale and using the CCS characters. This story is my idea and I do not want to see anyone taking any part of this story without my permission. Now since that's over with please read, enjoy, and review. This is only the prologue so it is short. The chapters will get longer as I get more into the story.  
  
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An old woman leaned against a tree and sighed happily as she watched her grandchildren playing in a lush garden. Although she looked to be well past sixty her eyes still glowed brilliantly and her face held very few wrinkles. Her hair had turned white over the years, but it did not detract from her beauty in the slightest, instead it seemed to give her an ethereal quality. Her bearing was noble and her eyes held the wisdom of a life fully lived. She smiled indulgently as she saw her youngest grandchild, a little girl of around three, come running up to her.  
  
The little girl ran up to her and hugged her impulsively. The old woman scooped the toddler up and situated her on her lap. The child looked at her with bright emerald eyes and pleaded with her in a sweet, gentle, childish voice, "Grandma, could you tell me a story. Please." The woman smiled at how the child's enthusiasm. The child reminded her strongly of another little girl she had known.  
  
The child had such an earnest pleading look on her face that the woman couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the innocence she exuded. Her face broke into an obliging smile before asking the girl, "What story would you like to hear?"  
  
The child beamed happily up at her before answering, "That story about the princess that had a coat made of a thousand furs. You know how she ran away to another country and met her prince there."  
  
The grandmother looked at the little girl with mock surprise and said with wide-eyes, "But I've told you that story about a thousand times by now. Don't you ever get tired of hearing it?"  
  
With a determined look in her eyes the child replied, "Never. That's my favoritest story in the whole world. And no one except for maybe my other grandma and my grandpas tells that story like you do grandma. I don't like it when other people tell it."  
  
"Very well then, since it's your favoritest story in the whole world, I'll tell it to you again."  
  
"Yay! Grandma's going to tell the story of the princess with a coat made of a thousand furs!" The child shouted gaily.   
  
The girl's shout caught the attention of the other children playing. As soon as they heard what story was to be told they ran over to surround the old woman. With wide smiles on their faces they sat down and turned sets of smiling sparkling, blue, green, violet, black, and amber eyes on the woman. The woman's violet eyes smiled back at them before she began her story. "Once in a kingdom not to far from here lived a kind and gentle king. The king had a beautiful wife with beautiful long lavender hair and emerald green eyes. The king and the queen lived happily with each other for several years during which the queen gave birth to a handsome boy and a cute little girl.   
  
"Unfortunately, the couple's happiness was not to last. Only a few years after the girl was born the queen who was never truly healthy fell sick and died. After the queen's death the whole kingdom mourned her for she was a beautiful, kind, and well loved queen. But no one mourned her as much as the king. The king was so distraught with grief that he never married again, but focused all his time and energy on protecting the kingdom and taking care of his two children."  
  
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Princess Sakura Kinomoto looked around at the solemn faces of all the people surrounding her. She didn't understand what was going on. Everyone was dressed in black for some reason and they all looked sad. Sakura was scared. She wanted her mother to hold her and her father and older brother talk to her and comfort her. But she couldn't find her mother anywhere. It was the naiveté of a young three-year-old girl that she displayed when after searching among the crowds of people crying for some reason that she didn't understand, she found her older brother Touya Kinomoto, heir to the throne of the Flora kingdom, and asked him in an innocent and scared voice, "Where's momma? Why is everyone so sad?"  
  
Touya Kinomoto looked at his younger sister sorrowfully not wanting to tell her the truth but not wanting to lie to the child either. He knew that his younger sister wouldn't understand why their beloved mother wasn't there with them anymore but he had to try and explain it to her. It was his duty as her brother to do so. He had to protect her and take care of her since their mother was no longer there to take care of her. The ten-year-old boy looked into his sister's frightened green eyes and said softly, "Momma is not here anymore. She died Sakura. If you need anything come to Poppa and me now."  
  
Sakura's eyes started to water and she rubbed them furiously not wanting to cry. She didn't understand what her brother meant by her mother dying and not being there anymore, but she knew that it was something bad because her momma wasn't there and everyone was sad. "When is momma coming back?"  
  
Touya sighed warily. He knew his sister would not understand the concept of dying. After all she was only three. He tried again. In a gentle voice he told her, "Momma was very sick. She was tired of this world so she went to another world. A very beautiful world. She is not coming back but one day we can go there too and find her."  
  
"But I want to go to momma now! I miss her!" Sakura cried.  
  
Touya hugged his sister tightly to him and murmured in her ear, "I know Sakura, but you can't follow her yet. You'll see her again, but it will be a long time from now. Until then I'll take care of you. I promise I'll take good care of you. I give you everything that momma might give you."  
  
Sakura cried softly into her brother's shirt and said softly, "But you're not momma. I want momma." She continued crying until she spent herself out crying and fell asleep in her brother's arm. Eventually Sakura's father King Fujitaka Kinomoto found Touya sitting with Sakura cuddled on his lap sleeping soundly. Fujitaka looked sadly at his two children not knowing how to comfort them. He merely gave Touya a sympathetic hug allowing the boy that was trying to be strong for his sister and for their people to cry on his shoulders and behave like a young boy that had just lost his mother rather than a prince. After Touya had finished and pulled away Fujitaka scooped the sleeping Sakura into his arms and took her to her room and laid her down on her bed. Pulling up a chair next to the bed he sat watching over his youngest child.  
  
As he watched Sakura he noticed that the child seemed to be having a dream. She tossed and turned and throwing her arms out she cried out in her sleep, "Momma! Don't leave me! Take me with you pleas! I'll be a good girl!"  
  
Fujitaka heard his daughter crying out for her mother and for the first time that day he allowed himself to cry and grieve for his deceased wife. All day he had to be a strong king that comforted his subjects over the loss of their beloved queen, but now in the privacy of his daughter's bedroom he allowed himself to cry and let out his grief over his wife's death.  
  
He sat there all night crying, but as the sun began to rise he promised himself and his wife that he would not cry anymore. He would continue to grieve for his wife, but he had more important things to do than dwell on the unchangeable past. He had his kingdom and his children to care for. So pushing his grief down he walked out of the set of double doors leading out to a balcony that overlooked the castle gardens and watched the sun rise over the horizon.  
  
He stood there for he knew not how long when he felt a small soft hand slip itself into his large weathered one. He looked down to see his daughter Sakura staring up at him. He smiled down at her and Sakura smiled back up at her father and told him in her innocent voice, "Poppa, if you're ever sad about momma leaving then I'll hug you like Touya hugged me. I'll try my best to be a good girl so that I can see momma again. So Poppa you try to be good too and one day we can all see her again."  
  
Fujitaka smiled at the little girl and nodded his head. He knew she was right. One day he would see his lovely wife again and so until then he had to be strong and be a good king and a good father. After all, his wife did always want everyone to be happy and went out of her way to try and make everyone happy. Looking at his daughter he saw much of his wife in her and knew that his wife would always be within his heart.  
  
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A.N. What did you think of that as a start for my story? Yes, I'm back to writing S+S after a long break from it, but I'll warn you before you get excited that this story is in no way planned out at all and may take a long time to finish. I have no idea how many chapters there will be or how long it will take me to come out with each chapter. I have general idea of the plot, but that's it. Please tell me what you think.  



	3. Heart's Treasures: Part 1

Heart's Treasures: Part 1  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: CCS belongs to Clamp, Kodansha, etc. and the original fairytale of "Thousand Furs" belongs to the Grimms Brothers. This story and its concept belong to me however especially since I'm changing a good bit of the fairytale and adding a good bit to it.  
  
A.N. I just though of something I didn't mention before. Yes this story is in some ways inspired by Robin McKinley's Deerskin, but it should be so different from Deerskin that you cannot see the similarities except for the fact that it is based on the same fairytale. If you want a good read, read any of McKinley's books. I think I'm done with my rambling now. BTW before anyone asks NO THIS IS NOT A SAKURA + ERIOL STORY. Enjoy and be sure to tell me what you think. Comments really help to stay a writer's block.  
  
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"The two children grew up. The boy who was seven years older than the girl grew up to be a handsome young man with all the court women and princesses from other land vying for his attention. The girl grew up to be as pretty, gentle, and sweet as her mother had been. The people of the kingdom loved and spoiled the princess greatly because she reminded them so much of their dead queen and because they felt responsible for the young girl that had lost her mother at such an early age. But despite how everyone treated her, the princess never became spoiled but remained sweet as always.  
  
"The brother and sister loved each other very much although they rarely ever showed it. The prince like most of the people in the kingdom loved his younger sister and watched over her constantly trying to protect her from everything and helped her however he could. Though he was known to be rather extreme at times in driving off his sister's would be suitors.  
  
"They lived happily like that until the princess's sixteenth birthday came about. The kingdom was in chaos because of preparation for the princess's birthday celebration. Everyone was excited over the celebration because it meant that their darling princess was going to become a woman. All the king's subjects did everything in their powers to make the celebration a happy festive event that would forever be remembered."  
  
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Princess Sakura Kinomoto fell back on her bed and sighed. She didn't see what the big fuss over her sixteenth birthday was. To her it was like any other birthday. Sakura would have preferred if it had been like any other birthday. She enjoyed spending her birthdays with only her close family and friends. The thought of the large birthday ball that was being held in her honor made her nervous. Sakura liked balls of course but she had certainly never been the guest of honor. The thought being at the center of attention made Sakura anxious.  
  
Sakura had been used to just lurking about at the balls that were thrown. Usually she was required to attend the balls, but once she entered with her father and brother she was allowed to blend in with the crowd and just spend her time talking with her lady-in-waiting, cousin, and most importantly best friend, the Lady Tomoyo Daidouji. She rarely danced with anyone except for a few of the gentlemen that she had been friends with though several princes from other countries had been known to approach her for a dance occasionally. Unfortunately for those princes, the few occasions that Sakura had agreed to dance with them were usually interrupted by Touya coming and cutting in. Sakura did not mind it though. She enjoyed dancing with her brother and his best friend the Lord Yukito Tsukishiro. Sakura used to have a crush on Lord Tsukishiro, but she eventually grew out of her crush as she realized that the kindly lord only saw her as a younger sister.  
  
Sakura sighed as she realized that she would not be allowed to disappear among the crowds for this particular ball. She couldn't choose to dance with only her close friends and her brother. Instead she would have to dance with every noblemen, prince, or king that requested her hand in dance. She also knew that everyone would be watching her closely trying to determine whom she liked most.  
  
Sakura had heard rumors that this ball would help determine who the king was going to give her hand in marriage to. The worse thing was that Sakura knew that it wasn't just rumors. She had passed by her father's chambers this morning and heard her father and her brother discussing her future.  
  
"She's too young to marry!" Sakura remembered her brother shouting at her father. Sakura had never remembered hearing her brother resort to shouting before or at least at their father. He usually didn't need to shout to get is point across since Fujitaka was very understanding.  
  
"She is not too young to get married. She is turning sixteen today and as you well know Touya many of the young ladies of the court are already married and settled at her age." Fujitaka pointed out to his son.  
  
"Married and miserable because their parents arranged their marriage!"  
  
"I realize that!" Fujitaka yelled back apparently at the end of his patience with his son. Sakura was shocked to hear her father raising his voice. Her father had always been kind and soft-spoken, never raising is voice because everyone respected him and listened to him.   
  
Sakura was considerably relieved though when she heard her father tone down his voice and apologize to her brother. "I'm sorry Touya. I should not have yelled at you. I am just tired over this whole affair. I know that most arranged marriages cause the children to be immensely unhappy, though there are exceptions, your mother and I being one of them. I do want Sakura to marry for love rather than politics, but time is running out for that. She still has not seemed to show a preference for any of the various noblemen, princes, and kings that have asked for her hand in marriage, though I might add that you threatening them is not helping the situation any. Yes, I know very well you are only trying to protect her, but Sakura is a young woman now and she needs a husband. If she does not show a preference for anyone tonight OTHER than you or Lord Tsukishiro then, I will be forced to engage her to Prince Eriol of the Magicka Kingdom."  
  
"Prince Eriol! That brat? Why him?"  
  
Fujitaka threw Touya a sharp look then, "You need to be more respectful towards our neighboring kingdom. One day you will be dealing with him for diplomatic reasons whether you like him or not. The Draconian Kingdom has been restless lately."  
  
"What does the Draconian Kingdom have to do with Sakura marrying that eccentric brat?"  
  
"I talked with the king and queen of the Magicka Kingdom and they think it would be a good idea to cement our alliance with a marriage seeing as how the Draconian Kingdom has always wanted our and the Magicka's Kingdom's lands. Prince Eriol has agreed to the match but on the condition that Sakura also agrees to it. I was going to bring up the subject with her tomorrow after tonight's festivities. Prince Eriol is a nice boy if somewhat eccentric and Sakura is at least friends with him. Over time friendship can develop into love."  
  
"Or it can sour into indifference or even hatred."  
  
"That is true, but do I have a choice?"  
  
"I see the logic in that but could you not find some other way to cement our alliance with them? Or could you not wait a little longer and give her more time?" Touya pleaded with his father.  
  
"There is no other method unless you want to marry Princess Nakuru." Touya shuddered at the thought of marrying the overly energetic Princess. The king continued, "I have given her all the time that I dare give her. Whether you realize it or not Touya, I am getting old. I do not need to worry about you because you are capable of taking care of yourself and our kingdom when I die, although I would not mind seeing you settled as well. But Sakura, as strong as she is, she is just a child that needs protecting. She has always had someone to watch over her and I would like her to always have someone to watch over her."  
  
"I'll watch over her..." Sakura heard her brother reply before she decided to leave. She knew it was rude to eavesdrop like that but she hadn't intended to hear the conversation. She just wanted to visit her father, but she had heard the conversation and now she wished she hadn't. Sakura returned to her room and busied herself preparing for the upcoming ball, but she soon had nothing left to do.  
  
At that point she had fallen back on her bed to think about everything. Sakura supposed that it wouldn't have been too bad to marry Prince Eriol. He was a very handsome young man and although as her brother and father pointed out slightly eccentric he was genuinely kind. She liked him enough as a friend and Sakura hoped that maybe her father would be right, that over time she would come to love him.   
  
Sakura just wished that she did not have to marry him. She knew that if her father requested her to marry Eriol that she would for the sake of her kingdom if not for her father. It was also true that she had not shown affection for anyone that had requested her hand in marriage nor did she have anyone she particularly liked. So it wasn't as if she was giving up a chance at love by marrying Eriol. She was glad he was considerate enough of her to require that she agree to the marriage. She consoled herself by telling herself that she could come to love Eriol because he was so kind and gentle.  
  
Sakura heard a soft tapping at her door and told the person to come in. A girl about her age with black hair that seemed to shine with purple tints and violet eyes poked her head into the room. Sakura saw the girl and called brightly, "Tomoyo! Oh you're just the person I wanted to talk to."  
  
"What's the matter Sakura? Today is your birthday you should be happier. You should be outside playing in the garden like usual not shut up in your room." Tomoyo told her princess and best friend.  
  
"I know but I don't feel like it." Sakura responded gloomily.  
  
"Is it those rumors about you needing to find a husband soon?"  
  
Sakura nodded sadly, "They aren't just rumors. If I don't find someone tonight Poppa will ask me to marry Eriol."  
  
"Prince Eriol is a very nice young man. He cares about you though I do not know if he loves you, but over time maybe you two will come to love each other. Besides it is a good match for the two kingdoms." Tomoyo said wisely.  
  
"I know, but..."  
  
"But you want to marry someone you've fallen in love with?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Tomoyo sighed sadly and walked over to the other girl. She stroked her hair gently and said, "I know, but sometime we cannot marry the ones we love. We can only hope to marry someone we might come to love and you are lucky that your father has chosen Prince Eriol rather than one of those other princes that would only care about your dowry."  
  
"Tomoyo, have you ever fallen in love?"  
  
"Yes, but I could never marry the person I love." Tomoyo answered quietly.  
  
"Why not? You are a high-ranking noblewoman, I'm sure that no one could oppose your marriage to anyone. If you want I can help." Sakura answered cheerfully wanting to help her cousin.  
  
"You cannot help me Sakura. The person I love does not love me back or not in that way and our marriage would never be accepted."   
  
"I'm sorry to hear that Tomoyo, but I'm sure you'll find someone you care for just as much as that person who will love you back. You have to because you deserve it." Sakura told her friend hugging her.  
  
Tomoyo smiled at the gentle young princess and told her, "Thank-you Sakura. But I am not here to talk about my social life. I need to help get you ready for the ball tonight."  
  
Sakura groaned and asked, "Do I have to go? Couldn't you tell everyone that I was sick?"  
  
Tomoyo laughed before answering, "You are the guest of honor tonight. I do not think you can get away with not going by saying you're sick. Besides I believe several of the servants along with your father and brother saw you been perfectly healthy and energetic this morning. You might as well make the best of it and try to find someone to fall in love with tonight."  
  
"Easier said than done. What dress am I supposed to be wearing tonight? Is it something you made?"  
  
"No it is not. It is one of the dresses your father had made for you for Winter Solstice last year. He wants to see you in it."  
  
"That one? It will be so hot in it." Sakura complained, "But if Poppa wants to see me in it, I will oblige him. He really went through a lot of trouble getting that dress made for me and I suppose I should wear it at least once even if it is a bit too grand and not to mention hot."  
  
"But it is a splendid dress though. I wish had thought to make you such a dress." Tomoyo told her regretfully. "Come here and I'll help you put it on."  
  
"I'm glad you're here to help I don't think I could get into this monstrosity by myself." Sakura sighed allowing Tomoyo to assist her into first her petticoats then the green satin dress. Sakura stood still as a statue as her friend buttoned the dress up and made sure all the layers of chiffon were settled correctly without a fold or wrinkle anywhere they weren't supposed to be.   
  
Tomoyo stood back to admire her friend then. The dress suited Sakura nicely she decided. The green of the dress matched Sakura's eyes perfectly and the tight-fitting bodice served to accentuate the young princess's graceful figure. The chiffon sleeves and layers that settled over the satin of the dress gave Sakura a willowy appearance making her look like a beautiful fairy.  
  
"Oh you look absolutely beautiful Sakura! I can't wait until your father and brother see you like this!" Tomoyo exclaimed enthusiastically.  
  
"Thank-you Tomoyo!" Sakura said giving her friend another hug. "Do you need any help getting into your dress?"  
  
"No. Naoko has already agreed to help me. I wouldn't want you to get messed up while trying to help me dress. Now sit down so I can do your hair." Tomoyo said beckoning imperiously at the chair in front of the mirror.  
  
Sakura sat down at the chair and the dark-haired girl stood over her brushing the long silken auburn tresses then gathering them up in a twist. She pinned the twist up with several emerald and silver pins but allowed several curly strands to escape out of the twist to frame Sakura's delicate face. When Tomoyo was done all Sakura could do was stare in awe at her reflection. She was surprised how adult she looked. Sakura turned around to face her friend and smiled appreciatively, "Thank-you for your help Tomoyo. I can't believe how adult you made me look, but you need to prepare yourself for the ball too. I'll come watch you get dressed. Would you to walk in there with me? I need some moral support and I would feel better having my best friend with me when I enter."  
  
"Of course I'll enter with you Sakura. After all I am your lady-in-waiting. It is my duty and my pleasure to take care of you."  
  
Giggling at her friend's answer Sakura grabbed Tomoyo's arm and dragged her to her room to prepare. There waiting for Tomoyo in her room was one of Tomoyo's lady-in-waiting Naoko. Naoko curtsied to the two higher-ranking girls before grinning impishly at them and asking them if she should start getting Tomoyo ready or the ball. Tomoyo agreed and Sakura watched as Naoko helped Tomoyo get dressed and prepared her hair for her. Once done the two girls thanked the servant girl and left the room.   
  
Once they reached the great doors of the ballroom they found Prince Touya and Lord Yukito Tsukishiro waiting there. The two young men grinned at the young girls and Yukito offered his arm to Sakura explaining, "We thought it might be nice to escort you two lovely ladies to this momentous occasion."  
  
Sakura smiled up at her former crush whom she suspected harbored feeling for her older brother and was fairly certain that said feelings were reciprocated and curtseyed elegantly to him before taking his proffered arm. Touya likewise offered his arm to Tomoyo who smiled sweetly up at the older man and gracefully accepted the arm offered her.  
  
The two couples swept into the room and all eyes turned to look upon the evening's guest of honor. Sakura gulped nervously as she felt all the people's eyes boring into her. She hoped that she looked alright and lowered her eyes to avoid having to see the people staring at her. She felt Yukito squeeze her hand reassuringly and smiled her thanks up to him. Smiling down at her Yukito asked, "Are you ready?"  
  
Nodding her head, Sakura allowed Yukito to lead her to her father's throne as people parted to allow Sakura, Touya, and their escorts to approach the throne. Once at the throne Sakura felt better instantly as she saw her father smile approvingly at her. He beckoned his two children to join him up on the dais and the two complied. Yukito and Tomoyo both moved towards either side of the throne to watch the proceedings quietly.   
  
Fujitaka stood up to address his subjects and guests. "I welcome and thank everyone for coming to this joyous occasion. I am honored to have you here to celebrate my beloved daughter, Sakura's, sixteenth birthday with me. I encourage you to enjoy this festive occasion for it is a most momentous day for my daughter. Thank-you everyone for coming and thank-you to everyone that helped prepare tonight's festivities." Everyone applauded as the king sat down and the music began to play. Everyone stood watching the dais as Touya approached Sakura and grinned at her asking to partner her in a round of dancing. Sakura smiled gratefully up at her brother and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor. Soon Yukito followed escorting Tomoyo and soon everyone else joined the two couples in the dancing.  
  
The night progressed on and Sakura found herself surprisingly enjoying the evening despite her earlier worries. Many young noblemen and royalty from other kingdom's requested the honor of escorting her in a round of dancing and as befitted her role, Sakura danced with all of them. She allowed herself to slip into a formal mode and chatted brightly with everyone that she danced with, but still she showed no preference for any of them. To her they were all seemed like very nice young men though a few tended top talk a little bit to much about how they might have ruled the country or about themselves more than she would have liked, but at the very least she wasn't required to say much to them. She looked about the room for any sign of Eriol wanting a chance to speak to him briefly about the arrangement, but she saw no sign of the dark-haired prince. She speculated privately at the fact that he wasn't attending her birthday celebration but quickly dismissed the thought from her mind.  
  
Eventually it came time for Sakura to open the gifts given to her by everyone. Sakura carefully unwrapped and looked at each present being sure to admire it and thank the gift giver accordingly. Finally when all the presents were unwrapped and everyone was retiring to the banquet tables for the celebratory feast, Sakura's friends and family stepped forward to give her their gifts privately.   
  
Sakura put his arm around Sakura as she began to get up from the chair she was sitting in to open the gifts. Smiling adoringly down at his daughter he handed her a small box. "Open it," Fujitaka said as Sakura looked at him questionably. Sakura opened the box and gasped in surprise upon seeing a tiny gold ring intricately etched with a rose design and a large emerald that matched Sakura's eyes perched upon it. "The ring belonged to your mother. I gave this to her to her soon after we were married to show my love and admiration for her. She wanted you to have it once you turned sixteen. It is her gift to you."  
  
Sakura blinked tears from her eyes as she thought of her long deceased mother whom she had loved with all her heart, though she had only known briefly. "It's beautiful. Thank-you Momma." Sakura whispered to the air knowing in her heart that her mother could hear her.  
  
Fujitaka looked sadly at his daughter that he knew with a pain in his heart had grown from the innocent child to a beautiful young woman. He smiled at her though when she turned to give him a hug. "I haven't given you my gift yet though. Here," Fujitaka said handing her another slightly larger box. Opening the box Sakura's eyes widened in shock at the object before her. It was a gold necklace that matched the ring perfectly. The chain was of thinly hammered gold. A teardrop-shaped emerald nestled in a pendant hung suspended from the finely worked gold chain.  
  
"This necklace...it's the emerald tear. Isn't it?" Sakura asked turning to her father. He nodded his head gently to answer her question. "But...but...this is a family heirloom. I can't accept this as a birthday present. It's too precious." Sakura told her father.  
  
Fujitaka kissed his daughter's forehead and replied, "It is a family heirloom because it has been passed down from each generation. It is time I passed it down to you. Besides," He said taking on a playful tone, "It'll look much nicer on you than on me. It has been sitting collecting dust in the vault for many years now. It is time it served it's original purpose; to adorn the neck of a beautiful young lady."  
  
"Thank-you Poppa." Sakura told her father.  
  
"Here." Touya said gruffly handing Sakura another small box.  
  
Sakura opened the box and her mouth turned up into a bright smile as she threw herself at her older brother and kissed him on the cheek. "This is beautiful! I love it!" she cried as she drew back away from him. "Where did you find something like this?"  
  
Seeing the curious looks on everyone's faces Sakura pulled the gift out of its box. It was tiny bracelet made out of white gold. Instead of having little links it had a chain of cherry blossoms each different and beautiful in it's own way. Seeing the embarrassed look on Touya's face as everyone looked at the bracelet with admiration Sakura asked her brother to help put the bracelet on. He complied smiling tenderly down upon her head when he thought no one was looking. "There. Don't lose it like you do everything else. I had to get that thing specially made so it is one of a kind."  
  
Sakura stuck her tongue out at him but them smiled and gave him another hug. Sakura finally released her brother and turned around to find Yukito, smiling down at her. He handed her three tiny jewel encrusted gold boxes in the shape of cherry blossoms. Sakura looked at the boxes in awe before looking questioningly at her former crush. He just smiled gently and nodded his head. She opened the boxes slowly and carefully to reveal several types of herbs.  
  
Everyone around Sakura looked at the gift and sweatdropped as Yukito explained, "These are rare herbs that I grow in my garden. They are really delicious when they are put in many things especially soups."  
  
Sakura stifled a giggle at Yukito's choice of gifts, but understood the love behind it. Yukito was notorious for two things, his love of eating and food in general and his love of gardening. For him to give her herbs from his garden that he worked so hard and lovingly to cultivate was a true gift from the heart as true in intent as the other gifts she had received that night.   
  
Gently closing the boxes with the precious herbs Sakura smiled at him and stood on tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheeks. Yukito smiled down at the girl that he considered like a younger sister to him since he was an only child and patted her head like he did when she was a toddler though as he looked at her he could understand his friend Touya's distress. Sakura had indeed grown up and grown up beautifully at that.  
  
Tomoyo then held out three beautifully wrapped boxes to Sakura. Smiling encouragingly at her best friend Tomoyo prompted her to open her gifts. Sakura carefully pulled open the wrapping being careful to not hurt the paper that Tomoyo has probably made especially for her. Opening the fist box Sakura gasped in delight. She held up a dress that she knew that Tomoyo had probably made herself and had done a better job than all the seamstresses in the kingdom could have done. It was made out of midnight blue satin with a layer of dark shimmering muslin over the bodice and the full skirt. Embroidered all over the dress was silver moons of several sizes. The moons seemed to give off their own light giving the dress its own ethereal light. Carefully opening up the next box Sakura found a dress made out of several layers of light blue silk each layer becoming lighter in color by just a shade. Embroidered on the dress were golden suns that gave the dress the radiance of the sun. Finally opening the final box Sakura found a simple black satin dress that in its simplistic way outshone even the other two. Tiny embroidered silver stars and diamonds twinkled from the dress's folds giving the dress the appearance of the starry night sky on a moonless night.  
  
Knowing how much love and effort the dark haired girl must have put into creating those dresses, Sakura hugged and thanked the girl with tears shining in her bright green eyes. Tomoyo drew back from Sakura and said, "I'm glad you liked them. I made them especially for you and if you are happy then I am happy."  
  
"I am very happy." Sakura replied smiling through her tears of joy at the love her family and friends showed her.  
  
"There is one last gift for you Sakura. Prince Eriol asked me to give this to you for him since he has urgent business within his kingdom to take care of." Fujitaka said handing a large box to Sakura.  
  
Sakura opened the box and stared down at the present with a mixture of confusion and awe. Inside the box was a coat that seemed to be made out of a multitude of different furs. "What is this?" Sakura asked looking up at Fujitaka for clarification as to exactly what she was looking at.  
  
"That is a special coat that Prince Eriol had made for you. He said that you would need it when you visit his kingdom for Winter Solstice like you promised you would because the Magicka Kingdom tends to get rather cold in the winter. It is made out of a thousand different furs. He said he asked all the animals in his kingdom to donate a bit of their fur as a gift to a very sweet and beautiful young lady."  
  
Everyone sweatdropped at Fujitaka's words. They all knew of Prince Eriol's eccentric nature so none of them commented on the fact that Prince Eriol had been implying that he could talk to animals and that they could understand him, not to mention the unusual nature of the gift. Sakura smiled anyway knowing that despite the oddness of the gift, it came from the heart. "I'll thank Eriol for the gift when I see him again." Sakura told her father.  
  
"Okay now that you have your gifts can we go to the banquet now?" Touya asked glaring at the coat as if it was the gift giver.   
  
"Yes, let's go to the banquet now. I am getting rather hungry." Yukito intoned lightly.   
  
Everyone sweatdropped at that knowing quite well Yukito's appetite as Touya asked, "I thought you just ate a little over an hour ago."  
  
"I did but..." Yukito started when a soldier came running into the room. Spotting the royal family et al standing there the soldier dropped down onto one knee and announced breathlessly, "I'm sorry to interrupt this happy occasion, Your Majesty, but the kingdom is under attack!"  



	4. Heart's Treasures: Part 2

Heart's Treasures: Part 2  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: You know the routine. CCS and its characters belong to CLAMP not me! The original story of "Thousand Furs" was a Grimm's Fairytale, but this version of it belong to me and changing the character's names and description will not mean it belongs to anyone but me. I am working my butt off for this storyline so do not take my ideas!  
  
A.N. Ok, this chapter is rather action intensive and it jumps around as to who its covering. Most of this takes place in the span of a few hours but the whole chapter spans one night. I went into detail on the characters thoughts and emotions and maybe went overboard on description, but I hope that the past two days I've spent typing this was worth the effort. Enjoy and don't forget I love comments. Also I will not have time to write anything for a week since my final exams are upon me and I'm in danger of failing two of my courses if I don't ace these finals so don't expect anymore for at least a week.  
  
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"I'm sorry to interrupt this happy occasion, Your Majesty, but the kingdom is under attack!"  
  
"Under attack?" Fujitaka asked startled, "By whom?"  
  
"The Draconian Kingdom, Your Majesty." the guard replied quickly. He was truly sorry to have been the messenger for such ill tidings especially considering the circumstances. He hated having to ruin the young Princess's birthday with such news, but the soldiers defending the kingdom could not defend the kingdom much longer without help. They needed the reinforcement from the rest of the kingdom which was now celebrating the Princess's birthday and possibly also from their allies, but even the old soldier knew that by the time Flora Kingdom's allies arrived it might be too late.  
  
Fujitaka nodded in understanding before taking action. Turning to Touya he told him, "Inform the guests of the situation. Recruit anyone able and willing to help. Gather the ladies and lead them to somewhere safe." Touya nodded grimly at his father and hastened to obey him. Turning back to the guard he queried him on the situation. "How far have they gotten? How much damage is the castle sustaining? How many troops do they seem to have? Will our armies be able to fend them off? Have you sent a messenger to the Magicka Kingdom to request their help?"  
  
The soldier looked bewildered by the grim look upon his normally gently king's countenance and replied rapidly, "They are still on the outskirts of the city and have not reached the palace yet but they have set fire to several of the buildings in the outskirts of the city. It seems as if the majority of their army is here. I believe around fifty thousand troops. I am not sure we will be able to fend them off without help. They caught us by surprise. No one expected an attack today. A messenger was dispatched to the Magicka Kingdom, but it will take at least a day before they can arrive here."  
  
"I should have known better than to lower our defenses even on a day like this. But no matter, we will no surrender without a fight. Sakura, you and Lady Daidouji go to your room and gather whatever you can and flee the kingdom. Try to find your brother and the ladies he is escorting if you can. Lord Tsukishiro if you would be so kind as to escort them and protect them I will forever be in your debt." Fujitaka said turning to return to his room and gather his armor and sword. His kingdom was in danger because of his foolishness and he was going to fight for it even if it cost him his life. He would not just sit idly by and watch his kingdom be taken over nor was he going sit behind his troops and order them about like he was playing chess. He was an honorable king that loved his people and wanted to help them. That was why his soldiers and his subjects loved him. They knew that would give his life for them and in turn they were willing to do the same for him.  
  
"Poppa! I want to stay here and fight with you. I may not be able to fight but surely I can do other things like tend the wounded, deliver messages and supplies, or cook. I want to help. I do not want to flee." Sakura shouted running over to her father. Fujitaka saw Tomoyo standing beside her nodding her head in agreement, her violet eyes alight with determination.  
  
"You cannot Sakura. I promised your mother that I would protect both you and Touya and I am determined to do so. You can help by escaping and living your life like your mother and I wanted you to should the kingdom fall. Take care of yourself my sweet daughter." He said firmly dislodging her hand that was hanging onto his own and continuing to walk away at a brisk pace. As he walked away from her, he prayed that Sakura and Touya would at least escape out of it alive.  
  
"Poppa..." Sakura cried tears streaming down her face. She felt a arm gently lay itself upon her shoulders in a comforting gesture. Sakura looked up to see Yukito looking sadly at her.  
  
Gesturing towards the royal family's private quarters Yukito told her, "Let's go Sakura." Sakura allowed him to lead her to her room. Tomoyo followed quietly behind them leaving Sakura to her thoughts. Once they reached her room Yukito instructed the girls to change into some clothes that they could travel in.   
  
Sakura mechanically went to her closet and chose a simple black dress made of linen. It was the most modest dress that she had and she knew she needed to look plain should the invading armies infiltrate the castle and find her. Even in her saddened state she knew that should the Draconian armies realize that she was indeed the crown princess then it would be disastrous. Tomoyo helped her into the dress and took her hair out of the intricate twist and curls it was in. Then she took a plain black scarf and wrapped it around the girl's head. Finding some old cloths Tomoyo wrapped the presents that Sakura had received from her friends and family earlier in it and stuffed it into the knapsack with the coat Eriol had sent her. Seeing the questioning look Sakura threw her Tomoyo explained, "These gifts are special to you. You should keep them as momentos of your family and friends."  
  
Sakura nodded numbly and watched as her friend gathered several of her jewelry and gold and stuffed it into another smaller bag. Sakura knew the practicality of such a measure for should the situation be hopeless and the two were required to flee, then they could sell the jewelry and gold for food, shelter, and clothing.   
  
She helped Tomoyo as the girl also changed out of her fancy ball-gown into a simple brown cotton dress. Taking one last look at her room, Sakura opened the door carrying the first bag that contained her heart's treasures, the gifts that her beloved family and friends had given her on this fatal evening on her back. Seeing Yukito waiting for them in the hall with his sword drawn and his armor on, Sakura knew that the older man had rushed back to his room to change as well. She smiled weakly at him and allowed him to led her away, Tomoyo following along.  
  
They headed down the corridors that only that morning was bustling with a cheerful energy as everyone prepared for Sakura's birthday ball, but now was busy with a different type of energy, that of fear. People rushed about trying to find their loved ones or just a safe hiding place.   
  
As Sakura passed a window she looked outside to see her city burning. The night sky turned the red-gold of sunset by fires rampaging through her city. A current of air brought the heat of the fires to brush against her face as well as carrying the sounds of the battle below to her ears. She registered all this with sadness, knowing that the glimpse she just had of the city may very well have been her last. But she dared not linger to watch the pageantry of war unfolding before her innocent eyes. She hurried along after Yukito in search of her brother.   
  
She heard more noise of battle approaching seemingly getting closer as she ran. Distantly she heard a soldier cry out in alarm, "They have breached the gates! The Draconian army is in the castle!" She shivered as she heard the dreaded news. Even her beloved castle, her home, was no longer safe from the invading army and Sakura knew with a sinking feeling in her heart that she must flee the castle too. She felt Tomoyo grab her hand and squeeze it reassuringly. She smiled at the dark-haired girl in appreciation but felt no comfort.  
  
She rushed blindly after Yukito thinking only of finding her brother. She dared not think of anything else for she was afraid that if she did she would become paralyzed with grief. Grief over the loss of her home, her friends, and her subjects. She ran until she ran right into Yukito's back as the young lord stopped abruptly. Peeking out from behind his back she saw a group of men wearing black armor that she knew to be the Draconian armor surrounding them. The men leered lustfully at her and Tomoyo. Sakura shivered at the looks they were giving her and felt revolted. The stench of death hung about these soldiers and she wearily withdrew further behind Yukito.  
  
Suddenly Sakura heard Tomoyo scream as she felt her friend's arm wretched out of her own. Another rougher hand quickly clamped over her arm replacing Tomoyo's soft delicate ones. Another moved over her mouth muffling her cry for help before she could utter even a sound in protest.  
  
Feeling Sakura's hold on his jacket ripped from him Yukito whirled around to see both girls being held by large Draconian soldiers. Yukito's eyes narrowed dangerously as he realized the danger his charges were in. "Let the two ladies go. You surely have better things to do than to harass two scared and innocent servant girls." Yukito told the group trying to hide Sakura and Tomoyo's true identity for the sake of their safety.   
  
The men glared back and him then smiled lecherously, "Don't worry your lordship," The soldier holding Sakura said slurring the title disrespectfully, "We'll let them go. Once we're through with them. They won't suffer more than a bit of rough play." Seeing the angered expression on Yukito's face the soldier laughed heartily before asking, "What is one of them your mistress?"  
  
Yukito drew his sword and glared at the man not deigning to answer the question. He knew the odds were against him no matter how good of a swordsman he was. He counted at least eight men surrounding him plus the two men holding Sakura and Tomoyo made ten opponents total. Without help Yukito knew he had no chance of fighting them all at once especially without endangering Sakura and Tomoyo who were both in the soldier's hands. He prayed silently for help to come but stood his ground as the soldiers charged him simultaneously.  
  
Sakura watched wide eyed as Yukito fought against the men. She knew that it was hopeless. Yukito was vastly outnumbered and despite his skill he would eventually tire. She tried squirming in the captor's arms to free herself, but to no avail. The Draconian soldier was too strong for her. She watched as Yukito parried a blow aimed at his chest and quickly countered with a slash to that opponent's side. The counter move hit the soldier squarely in the side and he crumpled to the ground bleeding but another soldier replaced him just as quickly. Sakura could only watch and pray that help would come soon for although Yukito was holding his own for now that was no guarantee that he would remain that way. As if her thought was being enacted Sakura saw a soldier manage to sneak behind Yukito ready to stab him in the back since honor and fair play was not something Draconian soldiers were well known for. Sakura tried to bit the hand that held her in order to free her mouth and warn her friend and protector, but just as she was about to do so, she felt the hand loosen its grip. The soldier holding her slumped over and fell to the ground dead as the soldier that was about to strike Yukito did likewise, stabbed from behind by a Florian soldier. Sakura was horrified that one of her soldiers would resort to such tactics but she realized that had he not Yukito would probably be dead and gritted her teeth telling herself grimly, "This is war."  
  
"Sakura are you alright?" Sakura heard her brother's voice asking her from behind. Turning Sakura saw Touya wielding a bloody sword with several Florian soldiers surrounding him. Unable to speak through the shock of knowing that her brother had just killed a man Sakura merely nodded. "Good. I'm going to get you and Tomoyo out of here now. I can only take you to outside the city walls. Once there you need to run. Get as far away from here as you can understand? If you can go to the Magicka Kingdom, King and Queen Hiirazagawa and Eriol will take care of you two."   
  
Nodding her head again to show she understood his direction Sakura turned pleading eyes on her brother and asked him, "What about you Touya?"  
  
"I'll be fine. I need to stay here and fight. I'll fight until we can get some reinforcements. Don't worry we already sent for some. It should only take them a day or so to arrive." Touya replied smiling down at his sister. He tried to memorize her lovely face knowing that that might be his final chance of seeing his beloved sister.   
  
With several Florian soldiers at his back and Yukito and Tomoyo at his side Touya led Sakura through the castle corridors and out into the gardens. He led them through the gardens with the light of the now burning castle in the background to the woods of the castle that led out to the wilderness of the forest surrounding one side of the castle. Pointing to a small path that wound through the dark woods Touya told her, "Take that path there. Follow it until you reach a town. From there you and Tomoyo can make your way to Magicka. Good-bye Sakura and be careful!"  
  
Nodding her head Sakura stayed and watched her brother run off back into the castle to fight. She prayed that he, her father, and Yukito would be all right. Tomoyo stood next to her and placed a comforting arm on her shoulder before telling her, "Let's go Sakura. Prince Touya was right. We need to get out of here now. The most we can do now is do as he says and pray that reinforcements do arrive soon or else we can get help from the Magicka kingdom."  
  
Sakura gave her friend a bleak look before nodding her head numbly and allowing the dark girl to lead her away. The two followed the path dimly lit by the glowing fires that they were running from both praying for the safety of those they loved. After a while Tomoyo began to tire so the girls slowed the pace of their escape but did not dare to stop. They ran further and further into the woods trying to escape, but eventually they heard the sound of hoof beats approaching them. Looking at each other with panic the girls began running faster, vainly attempting to outrun the horseman that was pursuing them. The hoof beats kept approaching closer and closer no matter how fast the girls ran and in an act of desperation both girls ran off the designated path and dove into the surrounding woods hoping to loose the horseman thus.  
  
They ran for what seemed to both girls to be forever, neither daring to stop. Sakura being in better physical condition than her companion led the way through the dark dense woods. Tomoyo followed behind her gasping for breath. Her breathing was labored since she was in no way accustomed to such prolonged physical activity. She lumbered along behind her princess knowing that they needed to escape and lose the horseman pursuing them. Both knew that their pursuer was most likely a Draconian soldier sent to find the absent princess.   
  
Suddenly Tomoyo tripped over a root. She was about to call out to Sakura to wait for her when the sound of hoof beats approaching stilled her voice. If she called out to Sakura than the horseman might find them. Tomoyo knew that she was only slowing Sakura's escape and at that moment decided to aid Sakura's flight however she could even if it should cost her life. Gritting teeth she watched as Sakura disappeared deeper into the woods and she prayed that the person she loved most would be able to flee to safety. She stood up and waited for the horseman to reach her. A crashing sound came from the bushes in front of her and a figure on horseback appeared in front of her. Tomoyo gasped in horror as she realized who stood before her and collapsed back down to the ground crying knowing that her planned noble sacrifice for her love had been in vain. Prince Eriol stood before her his face wreathed with concern.  
  
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Eriol watched with narrowed eyes as the Draconian soldiers that his army was fighting dispersed. He did a mental count and his tally of Draconian soldiers came out to be only around one thousand soldiers. Compared to the army of ten thousand soldiers he was currently leading that was a paltry number especially since his spies had reported the Draconian army mobilizing for war with over fifty thousand troops at their disposal. He wondered where the bulk of the troops were. Suddenly he understood. The smile he customarily wore left his face for a moment as he cursed himself for his stupidity. Those troops that he had just dispatched with ease were merely sacrificial decoys. The Draconian army had not been aiming to invade the kingdom of Magicka but the kingdom of Flora. They were meant to keep the Magickian army too busy to notice their army's true objective until it was too late. "It almost worked too," Eriol thought grimly. If it wasn't for his spies and their tally on the total number of men the Draconian army possessed then Eriol would not have realized it.  
  
He spun his horse around and ordered his men to abandon the chase and instead prepare to rush to the Flora Kingdom's aid. He knew that the kingdom would be too caught up in the preparation and festivity of Princess Sakura's sixteenth birthday to notice the invasion until it was too late. He again cursed himself silently for not informing King Kinomoto about the imminent invasion, but he did not want to bother his ally with such news on such a joyous occasion as Sakura's birthday. He thought that the Draconian army had been aiming to invade the Magicka Kingdom not the Flora Kingdom and felt that his kingdom could handle the invasion by themselves. Now he realized his arrogance might have cost him his ally's kingdom.  
  
His men obeyed his orders instantly and began to prepare themselves for the march to the Flora Kingdom. They saw the concern in their Prince's face and knew that they had been tricked. He hid it well with his smile which most of them found to be more threatening and dangerous than friendly, but concern was still evident to those soldiers that had trained with him since he was old enough to hold a sword. They hastened to finish the preparation for their march so that they could travel to their ally's aid as swiftly as possible.   
  
Seeing his men rushing to obey his orders Eriol relaxed minutely and allowed himself to hope that they may be in time to save the neighboring kingdom. He dispatched two messengers to two of his generals each commanding an army of ten thousand and told them to prepare to leave to help the Flora Kingdom. Dispatching three more messengers to his father and the other two generals Eriol explained the situation to them and requested that they defend the kingdom without his help for the moment.   
  
Preparations for the march were completed by sundown and Eriol led his troops on the road to the Flora Kingdom knowing that two of his generals were currently taking another road to the ambushed kingdom. As he approached closer to the heart of the kingdom and saw the glowing lights of a large fire and smelled the acrid scent of smoke on the breeze Eriol could only hope he arrived in time to even have a kingdom to help save. As the burning city came into view Eriol quickened his pace and those troops of his that were on horseback followed his lead.  
  
Right before they reached the outer limits of the city they crossed paths with a Florian messenger. The harried messenger upon seeing Eriol broke into a smile of extreme relief and gratitude. He quickly delivered his message and requested to be allowed to return before Eriol's arrival to help his comrades. Eriol stayed him telling the man, "We will arrive only moments after you would have and much sooner than either your comrades or enemies would have expected. Join us instead, for I want to surprise the Draconian army. I do not want them to know we are upon them until it is too late and should they capture you and see a messenger entering the city only hours after their initial attack they may become suspicious."  
  
The messenger obeyed him and Eriol sent word to his banner carriers to wait until they had entered the city before raising their flags. "Allow the Draconian army to think it is more of their own approaching." His men obeyed instantly for although they questioned their Prince's sanity at times, they never questioned his strategic abilities.   
  
The feint worked for the Draconian army did not take notice of the Magickian army until they we well upon them. They had entered the city gates that had been left open from the attack and closing off all the enemy's possible escape routes before the opposing army noticed them. By then it was too late. The Magickian army swooped down on the invading armies with a vengeance. Each of its members horrified and saddened by the chaos and ruin the once beautiful and lively city was in. None affected as much as Eriol though. He left his men to tend to those Draconian soldiers in the city as he headed to the burning castle with several of his best soldiers to help the royal family and the nobility still within the castle. He rode in and quickly dismounted leaving his horse to tend to itself as he went in search of the Florian royal family he had sworn friendship with. His face was contorted with worry especially about the young Florian princess that was one of his closets friends whom he thought of as another sister, though he realized she might have soon become his bride as well.  
  
He ran through the castle that he had once visited on happier occasions searching for anyone that he knew, any servant, soldier, or noblemen. Finally he found them. He encountered Prince Touya and his reputed best friend and lover Lord Tsukishiro valiantly fighting off six men by themselves. The two young men we out numbered by far but they stood their ground and fought back furiously not allowing the enemy to use its number to its advantage. They fought back to back thus guarding each other and allowing only two or three of the soldiers to attack them at once. Eriol immediately came to their assistance and dispatched two of the soldiers surrounding them leaving the two young men to dispatch the other four with ease.  
  
Prince Touya gave him a look of grudging respect and asked tiredly, "When did you get here? How did you get here so fast? We just dispatched our messenger for help a scant three hours ago."  
  
Eriol smiled at the older prince and replied, "My army just arrived moments ago. We realized your kingdom was in danger when the Draconian forces we were battling seemed to be much smaller than expected. I am sorry we did not arrive sooner otherwise the Draconians may not have even reached the castle, but at the very least with our help your armies should not have any trouble eliminating them since we caught them by surprise."  
  
Touya's eyes widened in alarm as he realized the importance of Eriol's words, "That army that we saw approaching from the distance. It was your army? It wasn't Draconian reinforcement?"  
  
"Yes it was our army sneaking up on the Draconians. Despite how fierce they are, they aren't very bright." Eriol replied smirking.  
  
"Damn! You must go after her quickly. We've made a grave mistake sending her away." Touya said panicked. "We sent Sakura away because we thought we were doomed then we could at least save her. Tomoyo is with her. We must go after them immediately!"  
  
Eriol again cursed himself because he knew that not only had he tricked his enemies but his allies as well. They had sent Sakura off to allow her to escape the death that she would have assuredly suffered should the approaching army, his army, have been hostile and they have lost which considering their state would have been likely. "Let's go find them now. They couldn't have gotten too far even if she went by horseback."  
  
"They didn't." Touya assured him. "We sent them on foot so that even if they was captured it would seem they was merely servant girls rather than the Florian Princess and a noblewoman. Only their baggage would give them away but that could easily be explained as things that they stole from the castle as they were fleeing. Tomoyo is smart enough to concoct a lie quickly should they be captured."  
  
"We can still catch them then. My horse is tied outside. If you show me where they were headed I can go after them and you and Lord Tsukishiro can follow as soon as you've found mounts." Eriol said hastily running back to where he came from pausing only to see where Touya happened to be pointing for him to search. He had to find the two girls before any Draconian soldiers might.  
  
Reaching his horse he mounted it quickly and pointed it in the direction Touya had shown him. The horse rushed headlong into the woods following its owner's instructions. Even if the girls had a several hours head start on him, Eriol hoped that he could catch them by horseback. He rode for about thirty minutes when he heard some noises in front of him. He followed the noise hoping to find the girls but the noises suddenly stopped. He stopped his horse and concentrated trying to hear the noise again, but he heard nothing. He looked at the area around him and searched for any signs of the girls' passage and found some. He thanked the light created by the burning castle no matter how ghastly of a thought it was since he had forgotten to carry a torch with him to light his way. The castle's light provided him the illumination he needed to see the broken twigs on some of the bushes to tell him that the girls had left the path. He pointed his horse towards the wreckage left by the girls' passage and allowed the horse to slowly pick his way though it. Finally the horse did as instructed until it reached a particularly dense copse of bushes. It pushed its way through and stopped.  
  
Eriol looked down and saw Sakura's lady-in-waiting, Lady Tomoyo Daidouji standing facing him with a proud determined look on her face. She looked at him with defiance until she realized who he was and she then suddenly collapsed to the ground crying. Eriol dismounted and rushed to her side asking the girl, "Lady Daidouji! Are you alright? What happened to Princess Sakura? I thought she was with you!"  
  
Tomoyo clung to him and cried, "Sakura, you must find her. I tripped and fell, but I thought it was a Draconian soldier coming after us so I didn't call out to her. I let her go on ahead. I was going to pretend to be her so that they would capture me and leave her alone."  
  
"Don't worry, Lady Daidouji. I'll find her. Which way did she go?" Eriol asked giving the distressed girl his most reassuring smile. Tomoyo pointed ahead of her and Eriol gave the dark-haired girl one more look asking her, "Will you be okay?"  
  
"Yes, I'll be fine. Just fine Sakura. Please! I will never forgive myself if anything has happened to her because I let her go ahead." Tomoyo told Eriol giving him a pleading look.  
  
"Alright then. Stay right here. Prince Touya and Lord Tsukishiro are on their way here now. They were just getting steeds so that they could catch up with you and Sakura faster." Eriol said before rushing off again this time following Tomoyo's directions. Eriol thought wryly to himself that tonight just seems to be a night for his rushing off in a panic.   
  
He continued running trying to find the errant princess for about thirty minutes and when he saw no sign of her, he finally gave up and returned to the place where he left Tomoyo to find Touya and Yukito there as well. Seeing the hopeful look on the girl's face and the concerned looks on Touya and Yukito's face as he arrived, he felt even worse for not being able to give them good news. He shook his head sadly at them and all three faces fell.  
  
"We must continue searching." Touya said empathetically. "My little sister is out there in those woods lost and alone. If anything happens to her..." but he could not bare the thought of something happening to his beloved younger sister. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement all worried about the gentle young girl.  
  
"We can split up and look for her." Yukito suggested. "I'll go with Touya and Prince Eriol and Tomoyo can look for her together."   
  
Everyone agreed to the arrangement and the two groups divided to search for Sakura. The wondered the woods all night calling her name, but neither group got any answer. It was dawn when the two couples met again. Both couples were dejected to find that the other had not found her and both began fearing the worst. They finally decided to return to the castle, though it took a lot of persuading from Yukito and Eriol to get Touya and Tomoyo to agree to return rather than exhaust themselves searching.  
  
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Sakura ran for a good part of the night. At one point she had turned around to find Tomoyo no longer following her and had tried searching for the girl, but in vain. She had left the path far behind her and she could no longer see the lights from the burning castle through the dense forest that surrounded her. Still Sakura searched for her friend, but could not find her. Finally exhausted Sakura found a tree with large hollow at it's base and curled up in it. Shivering from a chilly breeze that was blowing by her, Sakura removed the coat that Eriol had given her earlier that night and wrapped it around herself. Alone and crying over the lose of everything she knew and loved, Sakura fell asleep.  
  
She was awoken abruptly and rudely by rough hands upon her. Startled and scared Sakura screamed, "Help me!"  
  
The hands holding her dropped her just as abruptly as they had awoken her. She landed on the ground with a loud thud and was thankful she had the coat on for its thick fur cushioned her fall and allowed her a soft landing. Frightened but determined to find out who her captor were Sakura looked about her and sighed with visible relief at seeing that they were not Draconian soldiers. "Please sirs," Sakura begged as humbly as she could, "Could you tell me where I am?"  
  
"You are in the kingdom of Fauna," a young man that she guessed to be about her age answered her. The young man seemed to be the leader of the group that had accosted her. He sat proudly upon a large chestnut brown horse whose hairs matched his own. The man's amber eyes looked down upon Sakura with a look of compassion and pity that made Sakura wonder how she looked at that moment. The amber eyes examined her closely before asking, "Who are you and what are you doing here in these woods that you should not know where you are?"   
  
Hearing where she was, Sakura knew that she had strayed far from where she intended to go. Not knowing what to do she gave the man on the horse a pleading look and answered sadly, "I came from the Florian Kingdom that was attacked last night. I have no family and no possessions except for these clothes on my back and what items I have in my bag. I have no name."  
  
"What happened to your family?" the man asked.   
  
"I do not know. They may be dead right now and I would not know." Sakura replied crying softly at the truth of her words.  
  
"Very well then you may come with us if you so wish. It is dangerous to be out in these woods by yourself especially for a young girl." The man said gruffly turning his head away suddenly.  
  
Sakura considered the offer for a few moments before nodding her head in agreement and following the men. One of the men walked over to her and called her, "Thousand Furs." Sakura looked up startled by the name but realized that would be as good a name as any for her to assume. She could not reveal her true name for many had heard of Princess Sakura Kinomoto of the Flora kingdom. Knowing that the Fauna kingdom, although not being enemies with the Flora kingdom were not exactly friendly with them either, made Sakura weary about revealing her name to these strangers no matter how kind their leader seemed.  
  
"I will be taking you to your new post. The cook has been wanting some more help in the kitchen and you are to help her." The man continued. Sakura nodded her head again resigned accepting her new role in life and her position in this kingdom, though she wished she knew what had become of her kingdom and her friends and family.  
  
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A.N. Wow, done with this chapter. You know this chapter probably has more action than all the rest of this story put together will have, or at least until the end. Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC but I cannot keep them completely in character in an alternate universe story. BTW any guesses on who the young man on horseback is? No prizes for being correct ^_~.  



	5. Heart's Treasures: Part 3

Hearts Treasures: Part 3  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: Cut and paste one of the old ones here since I'm too lazy to do it.  
  
A.N. I have to repeat to of my classes although I passed them, but apparently not with the required grade so I'm a bit depressed about it, bah! Anyway here's the next chapter. The way this chapter is set up with going from one person or group's experiences to another is how the rest of the story will be set up, but for the most part it will go back and forth between Sakura and Syaoran to give their situations and perspectives. Also you'll probably notice that I'm also throwing in another couple in here as well, though since I'm not too familiar with that coupling, it is an alternate coupling after all, I'm not going to go too in depth over it.   
  
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"Your Highness," an elderly man said bowing respectfully to the young man standing before him, "Her Majesty, the queen, has requested your presence."  
  
Syaoran looked at his steward, sighed warily, and said, "Tell my mother that I will be there once I finish dressing."  
  
"As you wish." The elderly man said bowing once more before leaving the room.  
  
Syaoran brushed an errant lock of hair impatiently out of his eyes as he laid back down in his bed. He was still in his dressing gown since his mother had decided to call him for her usual lecture earlier than usual. He wondered what the lecture would be about today. Yesterday it had been about his duties to the kingdom and how he was almost of age to take over the ruling of the kingdom. His mother had wanted him to be more responsible, but Syaoran wondered how she could expect so much of him when she gave him so little power. His mother had been ruling as regent of the Fauna Kingdom since Syaoran's father's death fifteen years ago. Syaoran was the king of the kingdom, but he held no power. He was merely a puppet king controlled by his mother.  
  
He was of the age when the restrictions of his mother were beginning to chaff at him. He was fully aware that he was merely a figurehead and held no power and he was just beginning to learn to resent his mother for it. Just a little over a year left, Syaoran comforted himself. It would be only a little over a year before he would turn eighteen and he could rule under his own name rather than allowing his mother to rule for him. His mother was a very capable ruler, having been raised in a noble family she knew all there was about ruling a kingdom, but very little about being a mother.  
  
Sighing once more Syaoran stood up and began to get dressed. Normally he would have an entire retinue helping him to get dressed, but today he had dismissed them all. For some reason he had been in a particularly foul mood the past few days. He ruled it out as being restlessness from staying inside and attending to state matters for too long. He had resolved to go hunting today to rid himself of his pent up energy and frustration and also hopefully his foul mood too. This morning it had been worse than usual even causing him to explode at his servants when they were too slow doing things for Syaoran's liking and dismiss all of them while in a rage.  
  
Finally dressed in a plain loose green tunic and black leather breeches that hugged to his form Syaoran exited his room to attend to his mother. As soon as he entered the room he saw the disapproval in his mother's eyes at his choice of apparel. Grimacing she asked him, "Syaoran, could not choose to wear something more appropriate?"  
  
"No mother, I could not. I am going hunting today and unless you wish me to fall off my horse because my fancy clothes got caught on a tree branch, then these clothes are extremely appropriate." Syaoran replied coolly.  
  
His mother threw him a warning look before saying, "Do not speak to me in that tone of voice. I am your mother not your subject."  
  
"Very well mother." Syaoran replied warily. "What did you want to see me about today?"  
  
"Ah...yes that. The servants tell me that you've been extremely bad tempered recently and I see how right they are." Syaoran's mother Yulan stated. Syaoran smirked at the comment finding it very ironic how his mother had to find out about his recent temperament from the servants rather than knowing it from her interactions with him, as limited as they were. "Would you care to tell me why you are so temperamental recently?"  
  
"No I do not care to tell you," Syaoran thought rebelliously but instead replied, "It is nothing. I have just been feeling a bit stifled recently. The castle has been rather hot the past few days and I just need to get out."  
  
"Is that it?" Yulan asked disbelievingly.  
  
"Yes, mother." Syaoran replied. "If that is all you wish to talk to me about, I will take my leave now."  
  
Yulan frowned before answering, "That is not all I wished to talk to you about today. Syaoran, you are going to be eighteen in a little over a year and when you do you will finally take over the throne. You are no longer a child. You have many responsibilities that you must begin to fulfil and one of them is producing an heir to inherit this kingdom should something happen to you."  
  
"Mother, I do not yet wish to marry or even think about marrying." Syaoran said clenching his fists as he restrained himself from yelling at his mother. Syaoran found it ironic that his mother should choose now to bring up the subject with him. She considered him mature enough to marry and produce an heir to his throne, but not mature enough to rule the kingdom. He wondered bitterly if his mother would not be happiest if something did happen to him at this point. If he married and had a child and then died by some mishap then his mother could continue ruling as regent in the name of Syaoran's child.   
  
He pushed the uncharitable thoughts to the back of his head as he concentrated on his mother and what she had to say to him. "Syaoran," his mother said sighing warily, "I know you do not want to marry but you must. You are old enough to marry and you need an heir. Maybe marriage will help to improve your foul mood. You are king so I will not force you. You may choose who you wish to marry, but make your choice wisely."  
  
"And if I wish to marry no one?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"That is not an option. The only option you have is who to marry. I will give you until your eighteenth birthday to make your choice, but choose you must. There a many beautiful young ladies in our kingdom and in neighboring kingdoms that would love to marry you so you will have your pick of brides."  
  
"I do not wish to marry any of the grasping noblewomen or princesses that wish only to marry me for my throne." Syaoran retorted coldly.  
  
"In our position we do not get much choice on that account. I ask you to choose a marriage that will benefit our kingdom, but I will not force you. You may marry who you wish just know that whoever you choose there will always be consequences."  
  
"There is always consequences. Must I give myself up to my kingdom completely? For the sake of this kingdom I have forsaken anything resembling a childhood and now I will have to even forsake a chance at love?" Syaoran asked bitterly.  
  
"There is no such thing as love," Yulan replied coldly, "Mutual affection and respect maybe, but not love. You are foolish if you believe in love especially being in the position that you are in. You will choose a bride by your eighteenth birthday or I will choose one for you."  
  
"Yes, mother." Syaoran muttered glaring at the domineering matron. "If that is all I will leave you now." Syaoran said before turning on his heel and exiting the room before his mother could come up with more ways of controlling him and his life.  
  
Syaoran stalked out of the castle in a worse mood than he was in that morning and he knew his face showed it judging by the way everyone quickly scurried out of his way as he passed wary of his infamous temper. When he finally reached the stables he found his chestnut stallion, Fireheart, already saddled and waiting for him. Off to the side of his horse were several of the huntsmen with their dogs firmly restrained on leashes. Syaoran gave the group a sardonic smile knowing full well that word of his outburst this morning had spread and that the huntsmen not wishing to enjoy another reenactment of that morning had been prepared. After all it would not do for the king of a country to go hunting by himself no matter how little power and influence he actually wielded.  
  
Syaoran mounted the stallion quickly and with a jerk of his head motioned for the hunting party to leave. He set Fireheart to run at a canter and sat back on the horse just allowing himself to enjoy being outside. He blocked out the group that was following behind him and allowed himself to relax a bit, letting the tensions from the past few days leave him momentarily.   
  
Syaoran wished that he had been allowed to go out by himself, but knew that such an idea was unacceptable for someone of his ranking to go into the forest unattended. He could have easily ordered all his huntsmen to leave him, but he did not wish to see them set upon by his mother for endangering him by leaving him alone in the woods. It wasn't so much that he wanted to hunt; the truth of the matter was that Syaoran hated to hunt. The thought of hurting the wild animals gave him no small measure of distaste, but hunting was the only viable excuse he had to leave the castle and his mother's domineering presence.  
  
From behind him he heard the sound of the dogs baying and knew they had found a quarry. He reigned in Fireheart and pointed him in the direction that the hounds were running. He hoped that he could reach the creature first so he could scare it away. Through the trees Syaoran spied a deer fleeing through the forest. He took chase after it hoping to lead his band away from it at the last moment. The deer raced furiously through the forest with Syaoran and the hounds on its tail. Right before he knew they would capture it Syaoran turned Fireheart to the side causing the huntsmen following him t loose track of the deer since they were only following him and the dogs to begin with. The hounds bayed in protest knowing that the quarry was getting away but the humans ignored them and followed their king instead.  
  
Finally when he felt that he had led his men far enough away from the fleeing deer Syaoran brought Fireheart into a slow trot and then a stop. Turning to the huntsmen he told them, "I think we lost it."  
  
The men all had disappointed looks on their faces and he knew several of them that knew him better suspected he had purposely led them astray, but they knew better than to say anything. Instead they gathered the hounds and set them to finding a new quarry though they could tell that if the king could help it they would catch no game today except for maybe a few birds.   
  
The dogs were set loose and began sniffing about trying to find the scent of another quarry. Instead they found an unusual scent that confused them. It smelled of human but also many other types of animals from deer, rabbit, bear, and a manner of other beasts. Puzzled they followed the scent to its source and found in it an animal they had never encountered before. They surrounded the tree and began barking urgently. One of the huntsmen followed them and found them by a tree hollow. Peering inside to see what the dogs had managed to find the huntsmen rubbed his eyes in disbelief.  
  
"You Highness, Your Highness!" The huntsman called, "You must see this! It is the most wonderful creature I have ever seen. It seems to have a coat of a thousand different furs."  
  
Syaoran looked at the huntsman skeptically wondering if the man was hallucinating, but instead of commenting on that he ordered the man, "See if you can capture it alive then. I would like to see this wonderful creature."  
  
"As you wish Your Highness." The huntsman said bowing politely to Syaoran. Syaoran watched him as he organized several of the other men and surround the hollow effectively trapping the creature that was apparently sleeping in the hollow. The huntsman that had found the creature took out a net and quickly threw it over the creature and ordered the other men to quickly grab the creature before it awoke.   
  
The men did as they were told and several of them grabbed the creature to begin carrying it back to their king when the creature gave a decidedly human voice yelling, "Help me!"  
  
Startled the men dropped the creature and it dropped with a loud thud. Worried about what had happened and whether the creature or rather the girl because the voice was distinctly feminine was harmed or not, Syaoran reined his horse around to face the girl. Syaoran looked upon the dirt and tear stained face of a girl he guessed to be about his age. Large emerald green eyes looked about in confusion and fear before relaxing and the fear was replaced with determination. Finally the girl looked up at Syaoran and he was struck by the vulnerability and sadness the girl's face displayed as she asked humbly, "Please sirs, could you tell me where I am?"  
  
"You are in the Kingdom of Fauna." Syaoran replied evenly. Syaoran felt his heartache as he looked at the girl before him that was obviously lost and confused. As gently as he could he asked her, "Who are you and what are you doing here in these woods that you should not know where you are?"  
  
She looked up at him with those beautiful eyes that were filled with so much sadness that Syaoran wondered how someone so young could look so sad. The girl seemed to struggle with herself for a few moments before answering him, "I came from the Florian Kingdom that was attacked last night. I have no family and no possessions except for these clothes on my back and what items I have in my bag. I have no name."  
  
Her words sent a knife through Syaoran's heart as he thought about the pain she must have gone through. He could not figure out why but he felt a large amount of sympathy for this girl that had lost her home and family in a nights time. Though at the same time he felt angered this was the first time he heard anything about something like the Draconian attack upon the Flora Kingdom. Knowing how hurtful his next question would be for the girl Syaoran struggled with himself to decide whether or not to ask her about it, but he reasoned with himself that if he did not then he would never know and he could not help her so he asked her softly, "What happened to your family?"  
  
"I do not know. They may be dead right now and I would not know." The girl replied as she looked down and Syaoran heard her sobbing softly no doubt for her lost family.  
  
Not being able to stand seeing the girl's tears Syaoran turned around and said in what he hoped was a normal voice, though he felt his own throat choked with tears for the girl, "Very well then you may come with us if you so wish. It is dangerous to be out in these woods by yourself especially for a young girl."  
  
Syaoran felt her gaze upon his back for a few moments as if trying to judge his intentions and felt rather than saw her nodding her head in agreement. He released the breath that he had been holding, relieved that she had decided to trust him and accept his help. He motioned with a jerk of his head for the group to head back to the castle. As they road back he kept an eye on the girl and wondered where he would put her. With a wave of his hand he called one of his personal manservants Takashi over to him and asked him quietly, "Do you know where we can put her?"  
  
Takashi looked at him a few moments before replying, "I believe our cook Chiharu has been complaining about needing more help in the kitchen. We can put her under Chiharu's care and she can be a scullery maid."  
  
"Very well then." Syaoran said nodding his head, "I will leave you to take care of it. I must see my mother when we return." Outwardly Syaoran said this coolly but inside he was seething over the fact that his mother had not deemed him worthy enough to impart the information about the rising tension between the Flora and Draconian Kingdom to him. He had known that the Draconian Kingdom wanted the Flora Kingdom's lush lands but he had not known that they had already had plans to attack the peaceful kingdom. Although the Flora and Fauna Kingdoms were not on good terms with each other, they were not enemies either and Syaoran felt concern and pity for all the subjects of the invaded kingdom like the girl that had their lives torn apart in a matter of hours. He wondered if someday his subjects would face the same fate should the Fauna Kingdom's true enemy, the Noctrus Kingdom, decided to invade.  
  
Glancing back Syaoran saw Takashi calling out to the girl. Syaoran frowned at the name Takashi chose to call her. It was not a very polite thing to call a young lady no matter how lowly her status. He resolved to talk to Takashi about it later. For some odd reason after looking upon her tear stained vulnerable face, Syaoran felt a certain amount of protectiveness for the girl, but he put the thought out of his mind thinking the feeling was merely pity.  
  
They arrived at the castle and Syaoran immediately jumped off his horse sparing only one glance back to see the girl following Takashi to the kitchens. He stalked through the castle corridors trying to find his mother and finally found her in her study. Throwing the door open without warning he stomped into the room in a rage and confronted Yulan asking, "Why did you not tell me that the situation between the Draconian and Flora Kingdoms had degenerated to the point of the Draconian Kingdom invading that peaceful nation?"  
  
Yulan looked coldly at her son and said, "So the Draconian Kingdom finally attacked?"  
  
"Yes!" Syaoran replied vehemently, "Why was I not informed of this? Is it not my duty as king to know about the going on of the other kingdoms?"  
  
"Your foremost concern is for this kingdom not other kingdoms. Let those kingdoms' monarchs worry about it. It is not our concern. The Flora Kingdom was invaded because they were foolish and unprepared. It has nothing to do with us. What has suddenly brought this up?"  
  
"I found a young girl in the forest from the Flora Kingdom. She had apparently fled sometime during the attack and she is without home or family."  
  
"So?" Yulan asked archly.  
  
"So I took her with us." Syaoran replied furious at his mother's nonchalant attitude. He wondered if she cared for anything other than herself and the kingdom.  
  
"Then there is no more to it. You helped her. Isn't that enough? Do you wish to help the Flora Kingdom as well and risk making the Draconian Kingdom our enemies for a kingdom that is not even allied with us?" Yulan asked raising to her feet to stare coldly at her son.  
  
Syaoran was left speechless by his mother's question and realized that that was what he wanted to do, but knew to be an unwise decision. He wondered why he wanted to rush in to save the falling kingdom. Was it for that girl? A girl he had known only for minutes. The thought was so ridiculous; he dismissed it immediately. No he was just overreacting to fear that someday his kingdom would be invaded as well.   
  
Knowing that there was nothing more he could say, Syaoran once again stalked out of the room and slammed the doors behind him. He was too preoccupied to notice his mother staring after him with a look of apprehension on her face.   
  
Yulan Li seemed cold on the outside but she truly worried about her son and her kingdom. The responsibility of both had fallen upon her at the young age of twenty when her husband had died suddenly through an unfortunate accident. The pressures of ruling the kingdom had turned her cold as she saw the harshness that people had to endure. She had tried to shelter her son from it as much as she could by taking on the responsibilities herself though now she began to wonder if that was the wisest choice. Syaoran had grown up and even Yulan knew the resentment he felt at being controlled by her, but she was afraid losing the gentle heart her son had grown by exposing him to the harsh realities of life and ruling of a kingdom. Sighing in defeat she sank into her chair and gently messaged her head.  
  
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Tomoyo, Eriol, Yukito, and Touya returned to the castle tired and frustrated to know their search had turned up fruitless. All of them were anxious about Sakura's well being. The entered the castle disheartened only to be confronted by Fujitaka's worried face asking if they had found her. The group looked sadly at the ground not daring to look upon the king's face and shook their head. "I see." Fujitaka said quietly, "You children must be exhausted now. Go and rest and I'll send whoever is available out to look for her. Don't worry we'll find her."   
  
The group nodded their heads tiredly and entered trudged slowly into the ruined castle. All the fires set by the Draconian army had been extinguished but the acrid scent of smoke still lingered in everything. The charred remains of some of the furniture and tapestries served as evidence to the destruction the castle had suffered. They each retired to their respective rooms and fell onto their beds to dream their various nightmares about the former night.  
  
After a restless nap Tomoyo awoke and found her maid Naoko sitting by her bed waiting for her to wake-up. The girl curtsied to her lady and announced, "His Highness, has requested your presence at dinner once you are refreshed."  
  
Tomoyo nodded her head numbly and allowed her maid to lead her to the bathing quarters. She slipped into the pool of water and immersed herself before reemerging and washing herself. She stepped out of the pool and Naoko wrapped a robe around her naked form. She had just changed and was combing out her hair when a knock came upon the door of her quarters. Naoko moved to open the door and curtsied as she saw who was standing before her. The girl came back and announced, "Prince Eriol, is here to see you milady."  
  
"Please show him in." Tomoyo said quietly.  
  
"Yes milady." Naoko replied and went to escort the foreign prince into her lady's room.  
  
Eriol entered the room looking as haggard as Tomoyo felt. His normally slick black hair was rumpled as if he had just awoken, and Tomoyo reflected amusedly that he probably had. His clothes though were neat indicating that he had at least taken the time to change before coming to address her. He bowed gallantly and offered her a weak but genuine smile before asking, "If milady does not mind, I wish to escort you to dinner. I believe His Majesty, King Fujitaka, wishes to speak with all of us about last night."  
  
Tomoyo offered the prince a half-hearted smile but accepted his extended hand and allowed him to lead her out of her quarters and into the dining room that was used for more informal meals than the banquet hall required. She felt relieved to have Eriol's strong arms supporting her because she felt too weak and tire, both physically and emotionally, to support herself all the way to the dinning room.  
  
As they entered the room Fujitaka noticed them and waved them to the table where he, Touya, and Yukito who was already eating, were sitting. Eriol escorted Tomoyo to the table and helped her to be seated then seated himself. The servants began to serve all the diners with some of the food that had been left over from the banquet the previous evening. They had been to busy cleaning up the castle that day to cook a proper meal and the king certainly was not going to order them to do it with much more important things for them to do.   
  
Once everyone was served and the servants had retired to the kitchen, Fujitaka looked seriously at all the youth present and asked calmly, "Could you relate to me what happened last night? It might help us in finding Sakura."  
  
Tomoyo looked up from her food that she was merely picking at and asked softly, "So they still have not found her?"  
  
Fujitaka shook his head sadly saying, "No they have not found her nor any trace of her. Though do not distress yourself Lady Daidouji, we will find her no matter what it takes."  
  
"Oh..." Tomoyo said sadly staring down at her food feeling less hungry than before if that was possible. A tear dropped from her eyes onto her plate and the four men surrounding her looked upon her in concern not knowing how to comfort the girl for they all felt what she felt.  
  
Eriol who hated to see a lady cry tried to offer her what comfort he could. He tentatively wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulder and pulled her compliant body to him. He found himself mesmerized by her scent and her small warm body pressed against his. Eriol slapped himself for such thoughts at a time such as this and pushed all his observations and feelings that the proximity the dark-haired girl had just strangely awoken in him down.   
  
He felt as if he could sense her feelings for they were the same ones he was currently feeling, guilt and remorse. Rubbing her back and speaking in an oddly choked but gentle voice he told her softly, "It's not your fault Lady Daidouji."  
  
"But don't you see? It is my fault. If I had only called out to Sakura instead of staying quiet then she would not be lost. Prince Eriol would have found her when he found me!" Tomoyo burst out crying.  
  
"It's not your fault Tomoyo." Touya said gruffly looking down in shame not wanting to see his young cousin's sad face, "It's my fault. I should not have sent the two of you out there. I should have realized it would have been safer for the two of you to remain with Yuki and I."  
  
"Prince Touya, do not blame yourself. You did what you believed to be the best for the two ladies. If I had sent you warning of our coming or of the Draconian army's intent to attack you might have not been so predisposed to have sent Princess Sakura off." Eriol said evenly staring straight at Touya.  
  
"Enough!" Fujitaka exclaimed loudly standing up and slamming his hands on the table effectively silencing the group in the room. "Blaming yourselves over Sakura's disappearance will do no one any good especially Sakura. Stop arguing over whom is to blame, because the truth of the matter is that no one is to blame. You each did what you thought was best in the given situation. It is too late and of no use now to punish yourselves for event beyond your control. What we need to do now rather than blaming ourselves is to determine how we will go about finding Sakura. I have called all of you here now to hear your account of last night. Every little bit of information may help us to determine where she is."  
  
Tomoyo stopped crying and nodded her head. Fujitaka sat back down in his chair and nodded his head towards Tomoyo indicating for her to start off by telling her story. Tomoyo did so and the group of men around her listened carefully. When she finished Fujitaka asked the group, "Last night you children have already searched in the direction that Tomoyo said Sakura ran in?" All the youths nodded their heads grimly and Fujitaka then asked, "In what direction did she run?"  
  
"I believe it was east, but I am not certain. If I was reading the stars correct which I'm not absolutely certain I was because the trees prevented me from getting a clear view of the stars then she ran east." Touya said solemnly.  
  
"Hmm... east of us by way of the forest is the Fauna Kingdom and the Noctrus Kingdom. If she did end up running in that direction and ended up in either of those kingdoms then that is very bad news for us. The Noctrus Kingdom is about as bad as the Draconian Kingdom and would not hesitate to use Sakura against us if she were found. The Fauna Kingdom is a good kingdom except our two kingdoms have never been on the best of terms." Fujitaka said furrowing his brows in concentration analyzing their situation. "Touya if you would please give me your story now." Touya related his story and when he was done Fujitaka's face seemed to lighten a bit. "This is just speculation so do not get your hopes up, but if Sakura was told to go to the Magicka Kingdom then she will probably try to make her way there if she can. Prince Eriol, if you would not mind, may I send some of my people to your kingdom to search for Sakura?"  
  
"King Fujitaka, you are welcome to search anywhere in my kingdom to find Princess Sakura, but you do not need to. I will take care of searching for the princess myself. If she is anywhere in my kingdom I will find her. Your kingdom needs all its people right now to help repair the damages it has incurred." Eriol said bowing politely to the king and casting Tomoyo an encouraging smile.  
  
"Thank-you, Prince Eriol, but could you tell us your story? I am curious as to how you knew we were under attack." Fujitaka said smiling gratefully to the prince. Eriol nodded his head and began his story. Once through Fujitaka looked at him consideringly for a few moments before asking, "But why did you not inform us of your suspicions of the Draconian attack upon your kingdom?"  
  
Eriol sighed heavily, "When we thought they were going to attack, we began to build up our armies as well. We thought that we could handle them alone and I knew Princess Sakura's birthday was approaching. I did not wish to mar this happy occasion with news of an imminent war. That was a grave mistake on my part. If we had informed you then all of this may have been avoided. We were lucky that the Draconian army is rather arrogant. They only sent about a thousand troops to engage us. That in itself was unusual considering that they had built up an army many times that size. When I realized that they had intended not to invade Magicka but instead Flora, I rushed here as quickly as I could with my armies because by the time a messenger reached you it would have been too late. On the way here I met your messenger and then I formed the plan to not fly our banners and catch the Draconian armies unawares. I am sorry for it was your inability to identify us that caused Prince Touya to send Princess Sakura and Lady Daidouji off."  
  
"Prince Eriol, please do not blame yourself. Strategically that was a wonderful plan that saved Flora. You could not have foreseen the results and did what your military training dictated for you to do and it was a successful plan." Fujitaka said trying to comfort the boy.  
  
"My father is right. Do not blame yourself. Flora owes you and your army a great debt of gratitude." Touya added in begrudgingly.  
  
Eriol nodded and smiled weakly at the group before getting up from his chair and bowing politely to Fujitaka saying, "I thank you for your hospitality to me but I must retire. I will be returning to Magicka tomorrow to inform my parents of this and to initiate the search for Princess Sakura. I will return in a few weeks. I will leave part of my army here to help protect Flora in case the Draconian Kingdom decides to attack once more and also to help your repair your kingdom." He then smiled down at Tomoyo and told her gently, "Lady Daidouji, please cheer up. Tears do not suit your lovely face, but a smile does. If Princess Sakura is in the Magicka Kingdom I swear to you, I shall find her. Meanwhile I will also send some of my people to Fauna and Noctrus to search discreetly for her. The Fauna Kingdom had some blood ties to the Magicka Kingdom so they should not oppose to our searching for Princess Sakura there. As long as we do not hear directly from Noctrus or Draconian about Princess Sakura we can assume she if safe and was able to hide from them. If we hear from Fauna about her then I think we can still get her back safely because although they are not the friendliest kingdom they are honorable and just."  
  
Tomoyo looked hopefully at Eriol and offered him a smile in thanks. Eriol bowed once more to her and the rest of the group and quietly exited the room. Tomoyo watched him leave and felt herself frown in confusion. The feelings that Prince Eriol was beginning to evoke in her disturbed her.  
  
Touya watched both Eriol and Tomoyo and frowned. He could see a strange protectiveness for Tomoyo in the eccentric prince and he did not know what it might mean for both the youths and their kingdoms. He hoped that if what he suspected was true then everything would work out once Sakura was found. He refused to consider the possibility that she would not be found. Getting up from his seat he bowed to his father and offered his arm to Tomoyo and asked to escort her back to her rooms. Yukito followed after them and Fujitaka was left alone in the room to contemplate the underlying tensions he felt in the room, not all of them related to his daughter's disappearance either.  



	6. Heart's Treasures: Part 4

Heart's Treasures: Part 4  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: Much as it pains me to say so, I don't own CCS. Clamp and a whole bunch of companies own it; I'm just borrowing the characters. This is an adaptation of the Grimm's fairytale "Thousand Furs" or "The Disguised Princess" though I have changed several very important parts of the story because I either didn't like them or thought they would not apply well with the CCS characters. Not to mention I'm lengthening it quite a bit so the story is mine! Don't take!   
  
A.N. Wow is it my imagination or do I seem to be getting worse and worse about writing long chapters? Yes this chapter could have been split up but I didn't feel like it because I felt it was better long like this. I was going to give it another section but decided not to at the last moment. C&C are welcome and enjoyed. So be kind and R&R. BTW does anyone else not like FF.net's new format?  
  
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Once they reached the castle Sakura meekly followed the young man who had introduced himself to her as Takashi as he walked towards the castle kitchens. They entered the kitchens and a myriad of smells and sounds assaulted her. Looking around she saw everyone furiously working preparing the midday meal for the royalty and nobility of the castle along with the servants of the castle. Everyone looked extremely busy and all the unknown people started to make Sakura feel uneasy. She had felt fine earlier, but she could not understand why although there were about the same number of people in the kitchen as there were on the hunt earlier. She wondered if it was because the handsome kind young man had been with them then. She was grateful to him for taking her in with so few questions and the thought of him started making her blush.  
  
"Chiharu." Takashi called out as he entered the kitchen.  
  
A woman of around twenty whom was attending a hearth with a big slab of meat roasting on it turned around as she heard his call. "Takashi!" she said startled, "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be out hunting still?"  
  
"Yes, but we weren't able to catch anything but we did find someone that can help you here in the kitchen like you requested." Takashi said motioning to Sakura, "We found her in the woods this morning. She apparently escaped from Flora when the Draconian army attacked it."  
  
Chiharu looked at Sakura and gave her a considering look, "You are a frail thing aren't you? What did you do before you escaped?"  
  
Looking down Sakura replied timidly, "I was a serving maid."  
  
Chiharu's face softened and she said, "I'm afraid you'll be in a lower position than before. You will be a scullery maid here. The work here in the kitchens is hard, you'll be sweeping up the ashes, tending to the fires, and watching the food to make sure it doesn't burn."  
  
"I don't mind." Sakura replied.  
  
"No you don't look like you'd mind. You seem as gentle as a lamb. What is your name?"  
  
"I have no name and no family." Sakura said softly biting her lip.  
  
"I call her Thousand Furs and she doesn't seem to mind." Takashi volunteered.  
  
"That is no thing to call a girl!" Chiharu said glaring at the man.  
  
"Thousand Furs is fine. I don't mind." Sakura said trying to forestall anymore inquires about her identity.  
  
"If that is how you feel then we shall call you that. You came from the Flora Kingdom right? It is sad to hear that that lovely kingdom was invaded. My mother came from there and she always told me wonderful stories about it and it's kind and gentle king."  
  
Sakura felt the beginnings of a tear forming in her eyes at the mention of her kingdom and her father. She blinked the tear away but did not succeed completely as she felt a single teardrop wind its way down her cheek. "There, there, don't cry." Chiharu told her. "Everything will be alright. You will be safe here and everyone is really nice as long as you stay out of the king's way when he is on one of his rages, though he is a kind soul. Not like you will see the king that often to have to worry about it. You must have not had anything to eat since last night. Here follow me and I'll get you something to eat and find you a room."  
  
Sakura nodded her head and mutely followed the older girl. "Chiharu? What about me? Can I get something to eat too?" Sakura heard Takashi ask.  
  
Chiharu snorted derisively and replied, "You can wait to eat. I already fed you this morning." So saying she turned around and led Sakura to a table had seated her there. She left and came back with a bowl of porridge with a bit of sweetener in it to give it more flavor and an apple. For Sakura a meal like this would normally have been considered extremely simple fare, but she knew she was a servant now and could not expect more. Once she had finished eating, Chiharu led the girl to her room. It was small room barely large enough to hold a bed and a small chest and table with a tiny lantern since the room had no windows. "I'm sorry this room is so small and shabby, but we have nothing else available right now."  
  
"This is fine." Sakura replied.  
  
Chiharu looked at her sharply and took a step towards her and took her chin and raised her head to look her straight in the eyes, "There! That's better! You have very pretty eyes and I imagine a very pretty face too if it wasn't for all that dirt. You should be proud of them and look people straight in the eyes instead of looking at the floors all the time. You'll be looking at them enough with the work you'll be doing. No need to look at them more often than you have to. I imagine you weren't able to bring much with you. Do you have any other clothes than that?" Sakura shook her head since Chiharu had released her chin. "Fine then. I suppose I will also need to get you a few smocks to wear. Won't you take off that fur coat? It must be hot in it."  
  
"I'm fine. You don't need to trouble yourself with me and I want to wear this coat. It reminds me of..."  
  
"Of home?" Chiharu finished for her and when Sakura nodded her head Chiharu smiled softly at her. "I suppose there is no helping that. I'll get you a few more smocks to wear. I'll leave you alone now. When you are done putting your things up come to the kitchen and I'll put you to work." Chiharu said and then she left and Sakura was alone in the dark room. Sakura removed her bag from around her shoulders and placed it in the chest. She looked at her hair and saw it was scraggly with twigs, leaves, and dirt all over it. She bit her lip and found an old piece of rag lying on the table and wrapped her hair up in it. Looking around the room and telling herself that maybe her new life would not be so bad Sakura left the room and made her way to the kitchen.   
  
Thus her life in the Fauna Kingdom started. She was now a scullery maid, one of the lowest positions within the castle, a far cry from her position only a day ago. But she was resigned to her fate and accepted it as best as she could. Her days soon fell into a schedule. She would awake as the cock crowed and go fetch the water for the preparation of the morning's meal. She was usually alone when she did so and was happy for the time outside alone. It was the one time during the day when she was not completely exhausted or beleaguered with work. She often spent of time in the morning feeding and talking to the birds that loved her and comforted her before she returned indoors with the water. She then started the fires that would be used in the cooking of the meals. At that point she would start doing some of her other chores like sweeping out the kitchen and helping the cooks prepare the meal. Once the meal was prepared and the royalty and nobles served then she could eat along with the other servants and have an hour of rest before she had to do everything again to prepare for the midday meal and then supper.  
  
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Syaoran sat in his study reviewing a list of petitions that his mother had given him earlier in the day. He didn't understand why she bothered with giving him the petitions to review since he was never the one to make the decisions regarding the petitions. No instead it was always his mother that the final decision went to and Syaoran was beginning to tire of the farce. The only real responsibility he was deemed worthy enough to attend to was greeting foreign dignitaries, but only because she was king and anyone else greeting them would be considered disrespectful.   
  
He raked his fingers through his chestnut brown hair and sighed. He had finally finished reviewing the lists of petitions after a long grueling morning. It had been difficult for him to do something that only weeks ago he would have finished in a matter of a couple hours, but lately Syaoran had been preoccupied. Whatever he did the image of tear-bright green eyes always crept into his mind. The face that they were set in was blurred in his mind but the eyes remained bright and sorrowful.  
  
"Why do I keep thinking about her?" Syaoran asked himself in frustration. Think as he might he could come up with no logical answer except for that he pitied the girl and was worried about her. He wondered how she was doing in the kitchens. He had not seen her at all since he had brought her back to the castle with him several weeks ago, but he supposed that it would be difficult for him to see her considering she was probably down in the kitchen all day.  
  
Finally frustrated and restless Syaoran resolved to go take a walk in the castle gardens. He got up from his desk tiredly and strolled through the castle corridors lost in his thoughts most of which revolved around a certain green-eyed waif that he had taken in a few weeks before. He went out into the garden and walked around. The peaceful midmorning air helped to calm his restlessness and his tension and frustration melted away from him. He walked along the garden paths enjoying the sight and scent of the flowers that surrounded him. It was mid-April and the weather was warm without being hot. The many of the garden's flowers were in full bloom including one of his favorites the cherry blossom. It pale pink blossoms had always attracted him especially when an errant wind brushed past them causing showers of the blossoms to fall upon him.  
  
He entered a little walked and used niche of the garden that was full of cherry trees. It was one of his favorite places because it was one of the few places where he could truly be alone and block the rest of the world out. Today as he went into the garden he heard a soft female voice talking quietly. Syaoran halted his steps and wondered if he should intrude upon the person that was already there. Also Syaoran did not feel like seeing anyone at that moment. He had left come to the garden and this groove in particular to be alone. Sighing to himself and deciding he might as well find out whom it was that had wandered into his sanctum Syaoran quietly looked around the tree he was standing behind.   
  
There sitting in the middle of the groove was the girl he had been thinking about for the past two weeks. Her hair was wrapped up and her face was covered with soot rather than dirt but the bright green eyes and the fur coat gave her away as being the girl from before. She was talking gently to something sitting in her lap. Wanting to know what she was talking to Syaoran tried taking a step closer, but as he did so he stepped on a twig. The sound of the twig breaking alerted the girl to his presence and she looked up with wide frightened eyes and asked in a trembling voice, "Who's there?"  
  
Seeing the frightened look on her face Syaoran walked around the tree wishing to comfort her with the fact that he meant her no harm. "It is only I." He said, "I will not harm you."  
  
The girl's face flushed with relief until her face seemed to look apprehensive once more as she realized who she was looking at. "Your Lordship, I'm sorry." She said hastily. Syaoran wondered what she had to be sorry about, "I'll leave right now. I thought that no one ever came to this part of the garden. I'm sorry to have disturbed you."   
  
So saying she got up carefully holding whatever it was that rested in her lap and began to scurry away when Syaoran reached out a hand to her. His hand brushed lightly against her shoulder neck and he felt a pleasant shock go through his fingers. "No wait." He said, "It is I that should apologize for disturbing you."  
  
"Please do not say that sire. This is the royal gardens, royalty and nobility are allowed in here, but servants other than gardeners are not. I have broken the rules and I am prepared for your punishment." the girl said with her head bowed.  
  
"Well I will give you special permission to be here then." Syaoran said.  
  
The girl turned hopeful eyes upon him then, "Could you really do that? I thought that only the queen and king could do that."  
  
Syaoran reeled in shock as he realized the girl did not know he was the king. He laughed at himself then as he remembered that she was from another country so how could she know. Smiling gently down at her he said, "I will speak to the king about it. He should not mind. No one comes to this part of the garden except for me."  
  
"Thank-you, my Lord." The girl said smiling brightly and curtsying.   
  
Syaoran thought what a beautiful smile she had before noticing the bundle she still held in her arms and he asked her gently, "What is that you are holding?"  
  
The girl's face flushed with embarrassment as she sat down and opened up her arms to reveal a tiny white bunny with a small strip of cloth wrapped around it's right paw. "I found him today while I was here. He seemed to have a thorn in his paw and I removed it for him and bandaged him. I was planning on taking care of him until his foot got better."  
  
Syaoran smiled at the answer before saying, "You can do whatever you want to. If you wish I can get you some cleaner bandages and some ointment for you to put on his foot."  
  
The girl smiled gratefully up at him and replied, "I would not want to trouble you my Lord. I can take care of this little one alone."  
  
"It will be not be any trouble. Wait here and I'll be back with it in a minute and that is an order." Syaoran said before rushing into the castle to gather the bandages and ointment. He returned to see the girl sitting there talking in soft tones to the rabbit and gently stroking its side. The scene stirred his heart in a way that made him feel both happy, but disconcerted.  
  
The two tended to the rabbit quietly and when it was re-bandaged the girl set it down and it began to tentatively hop about and then returned to the girl and nuzzle her hand. The girl laughed at its antics and Syaoran felt himself smiling a true smile for the first time in months watching her. He suddenly realized that he had never gotten her name. As gently as he could wary of the memories of that asking her name might evoke in her he said, "I still do not know your name. Pray tell fair lady what might it be?"  
  
The girl smiled at him before her face regained some of its earlier sadness and she said quietly, "Please do not jest with me like that my lord. I am only a simple scullery maid not a fair lady. I have no name and no family. Everyone just calls me either girl or Thousand Furs."  
  
"So that name Takashi gave you stuck? I meant to talk to him about that, but never had the chance I will now though. Such a name is not proper for a lady even if she is only a scullery maid." Syaoran said smiling wryly at the girl.   
  
"Takashi and Chiharu have both been really kind to me. Please do not scold him for the name." the girl replied quickly jumping to Syaoran's manservant's defense.  
  
Syaoran felt a sudden upwelling of jealously at the way the girl defended his manservant. It was painfully obvious to him that she had become close to him in the few weeks he was there and Syaoran was jealous of it as he realized that Takashi could probably see her bright green eyes and gentle smile anytime. He wondered at his reaction but pushed out of his mind and if for the next week Takashi wondered why his king was particularly cold towards him, neither he nor the Syaoran would truly understand why for a while. Finally not knowing how to answer to that and not wanting to call the girl Thousand Furs Syaoran asked, "Is there another name I may call you by?"  
  
"Anything your Lordship chooses to call me by his fine." the girl replied.  
  
"Hmm...how about Sakura?" Syaoran suggested. The girl looked up at him startled and seemed about to run when Syaoran continued and explained, "This groove is full of cherry trees in full bloom and one of my favorite flowers is the cherry blossom. I believe Sakura is the name of the cherry blossom in Flora. It seems appropriate to call you that since we met here, but I shall reserve that name for I alone to call you and I will call you that only when we are alone." Syaoran blinked in astonishment at what he just said surprised by the possessiveness in his words.  
  
"As you wish my Lord." the girl who he now thought of as Sakura replied.  
  
Syaoran frowned as he realized what else was bothering him, "Please just call me Syaoran. 'My lord' is too formal and I do not need formality where it is not necessary."  
  
Sakura looked down and whispered, "I cannot. That is not fitting for a servant to call a Lord by his name."  
  
Syaoran smiled mischievously as he realized how he could use his rank to his advantage and he asked in an innocent voice, "Well what if I order you to?"  
  
Sakura laughed at his question and replied, "Then I will have no choice but to obey and call you Syaoran, my Lord."  
  
"Good! Then I order you to no longer call me 'my Lord' and call me Syaoran. Though," and Syaoran frowned as he realized what his mother would say to this, "Do be careful when you call me Syaoran."  
  
"I'll be careful," Sakura replied smiling, "But if you will excuse me Syaoran, I must be going back to the kitchens to help prepare the midday meal and clean up." Syaoran smiled at the use of his name and nodded.   
  
Sakura got up and curtsied gracefully to Syaoran and he thought she seemed more elegant in her fur coats and soot-stained than all the court ladies in their fine dresses and jewels ever could. He watched her as she walked away and smiled to himself. Syaoran went back to the castle then in a better mood than he had been in for months.  
  
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Sakura had been in Fauna for a little over two weeks. During her first week there she had to learn to adjust to being a servant. Everyone around her was very nice to her and tried to help her however they could. She learned some of the rules that she was expected to obey and the other servants gave her some helpful hints in dealing with the nobility and royalty of the castle, not like she really needed the hints because she never saw any of them. Though she often wondered who the young man that had rescued her had been.  
  
While she was wandering around outside when she stumbled upon a beautiful groove of trees. The trees were cherry trees all in full bloom. The tiny pink and white blossoms fluttered around her stirred by the wind and Sakura felt at peace for the first time since she had arrived there in Fauna. The groove of trees reminded her of her home and her mother. In Flora everywhere you went there were cherry trees that Sakura's mother, Nadeshiko, had had planted throughout the kingdom in celebration of Sakura's birth. Sitting in the groove of trees Sakura could imagine that she was at home and at any moment her brother would walk from behind a tree and attempt to scare her.  
  
She walked back to the kitchen later that day to ask Chiharu about the groove. Chiharu was surprised when she heard about and told Sakura, "I believe that is part of the royal gardens. Only royalty and nobility and the gardeners are allowed in there. Servants are not allowed in there unless they get special permission from the king."  
  
"Oh." Sakura said disappointed that she would no longer be allowed to visit her groove since it was off limits to servants.  
  
"But," Chiharu continued seeing the disappointed look on the young girl's face, "No one ever goes to that part of the garden except for the gardeners from what I hear. I'm sure that as long as someone wanting to visit the groove is careful then no one will mind. The gardeners certainly won't and they are the only ones that ever go there."  
  
"Thank-you Chiharu." Sakura said smiling brightly relieved to be able to visit her groove again.  
  
"I didn't do anything for you to thank me for." Chiharu answered winking conspiratorially at Sakura.  
  
After that Sakura visited the groove whenever she had some free time which was usually during mid-morning hours when the breakfast had been already prepared and it was still to early to start the midday meal. Chiharu often took over some of Sakura's duties for her so that she could visit the groove. Chiharu felt sorry for the young girl and she liked her. The girl seemed melancholy too often and since the groove seemed to be the only thing that gave her any joy, Chiharu helped her to be able to visit as often as possible.  
  
When Sakura reached the groove this morning she found laying in the groove a tiny baby rabbit with a thorn in its paw. She approached the rabbit slowly and carefully so as to not scare it off. The rabbit trembled as it saw her and she reached a hand out to gently stroke it murmuring soothing words softly to it. The rabbit as if understanding her relaxed a bit and allowed her to pick it up. She examined the rabbits paw and found the thorn deeply embedded in it.   
  
"Oh you poor thing!" Sakura exclaimed. She carefully grabbed the thorn between two of her fingers and pulled the thorn out as carefully as she could. She felt the rabbit trembling and whimpering with pain on her lap as she was removing the thorn and she began whispering to it, "It'll be all right soon. Let me just take this thorn out and you'll be fine. I'll take care of you. I won't hurt you."  
  
Sakura finished pulling the thorn out of its paw and then bandaged it with a piece of cloth she tore from the rag that was covering her hair. The rabbit licked her hand gently in appreciation and she laughingly told it, "Hey stop that. It tickles." Just as she said that she heard a twig snapping and Sakura's head snapped up. She looked frantically around her dreading that she would be caught and punished, but mostly afraid she would no longer be allowed to come to her sanctuary anymore.  
  
A man young man stepped out from behind a tree and said gently to her, "It is only I. I will not harm you." Sakura stared at the young man and realized that he was the kind young man that had saved her. She assumed he was a lord and knew that even if he would not hurt her she would no longer be allowed to come to her groove anymore.  
  
Cradling the rabbit in her arms Sakura got up to leave saying, "Your Lordship, I'm sorry. I'll leave right now. I thought that no one ever came to this part of the garden. I'm sorry to have disturbed you." She was just beginning to walk away when she felt an electric shock pass thorough her as she felt the young man's fingers brush her neck as he reached out to stop her.  
  
Sakura gasped silently, as the young man seemingly breathing heavily said, "No wait, it is I that should apologize for disturbing you."  
  
Sakura bowed her head and said quietly, "Please do not say that sire. This is the royal gardens, royalty and nobility are allowed in here, but servants other than gardeners are not. I have broken the rules and I am prepared for your punishment. Sakura held back tears knowing that she would soon no longer have her sanctuary.  
  
"Well I will give you special permission to be here then." the man told her.   
  
Sakura looked up at him hopefully not daring to believe that not only would he not punish her and report her, but he would also give her permission to stay in the garden. Suddenly dismay overtook her as she realized that only the queen and king were able to give such permission. She still hoped and asked him, "Could you really do that? I thought that only the queen and king could do that."  
  
The man seemed startled by her question before a slow smile overtook his face and Sakura felt her heart leap into her throat as she realized just how handsome he was. The wind stirred his chestnut brown hair with the cherry blossoms swirling around behind him. His amber eyes glowed with gentleness as he told her, "I will speak to the king about it. He should not mind. No one comes to this part of the garden except for me."  
  
Sakura felt herself breaking out into a joyful smile and she curtseyed to the young man saying, "Thank-you, my Lord."  
  
The young lord's amber eyes seemed to stray to the rabbit that Sakura was holding in her arm and his eyes lit up with curiosity as he asked her, "What is that you are holding?"  
  
Sakura felt her face going hot and knew that she must have been blushing furiously completely unaware that the young lord or rather young king thought she looked beautiful with her cheeks suffused with a pink tint. Sakura carefully sank down to the ground and removed her arms from around the bunny while explaining, "I found him today while I was here. He seemed to have a thorn in his paw and I removed it for him and bandaged him. I was planning on taking care of him until his foot got better."  
  
The man smiled down at Sakura before suggesting, "You can do whatever you want to. If you wish I can get you some cleaner bandages and some ointment for you to put on his foot."  
  
Sakura looked at him in surprise and smiled gratefully before protesting, "I would not want to trouble you my Lord. I can take care of this little one alone."  
  
"It will be not be any trouble. Wait here and I'll be back with it in a minute and that is an order." the man told her before he rushed away. Sakura watched him as he left. She marveled at how kind he was. She had not expected anyone especially those that were noble born from Fauna to be so kind and gentle. She had heard stories of the arrogance and temper of the Faunian nobility and felt relieved to have her preconceptions shatter thus.   
  
After he was out of sight Sakura turned her attention back to the rabbit in her lap and smiled at it. Stroking its head she was whispering to it, "He really is nice is he not? I wish I could have met someone like him when I was a princess rather than now. I could fall in love with someone like him. But I am no princess and all he sees me only as is a poor orphan that he chooses to pity. I suppose it is better this way. It does not matter though because I cannot fall in love with him. Our kingdoms were never on good terms with each other and I'm sure my brother would have thrown a fit. Still it is nice to dream. I wonder how everyone is. I pray they are alive and well."  
  
The young man soon returned with the bandages and Sakura worked silently with him to bandage the rabbit. She held the rabbit down and stroked it to calm it as the young man removed her sloppy bandaging job and placed ointment on the rabbit's injured foot then bandaged it with fresh clean cloth. Sakura set the rabbit down after the man had finished bandaging it and it began to hop about though it was slightly lame in the injured foot. It hopped back over to her and began nuzzling her hand causing her to laugh as its soft touch tickled her hand. She felt the young man's eyes on her before he said gently, "I still do not know your name. Pray tell fair lady what might it be?  
  
Sakura was struck suddenly with an overwhelming amount of sorrow at the question and smiled sadly at him before turning her head slightly away to hide the tears that threatened to spill out and said quietly, "Please do not jest with me like that my lord. I am only a simple scullery maid not a fair lady. I have no name and no family. Everyone just calls me either girl or Thousand Furs." His calling her a fair lady mocked though she knew he was only being polite. She knew that she could hardly be called fair with her hair dirty and matted and her face soot covered and it hurt to know that he should tease her so cruelly.  
  
The man seemed to muse over her answer for a bit before he said, "So that name Takashi gave you stuck? I meant to talk to him about that, but never had the chance I will now though. Such a name is not proper for a lady even if she is only a scullery maid.  
  
Sakura felt sudden dismay that she might have gotten Takashi, who had been very kind to her since he had first taken her to Chiharu, into trouble with his lord inadvertently. She whirled to face the young man and with pleading eyes begged him, "Takashi and Chiharu have both been really kind to me. Please do not scold him for the name."  
  
The man seemed to eye her warily for a few moments and his smile seemed to have faded into a frown as he was thinking to himself and Sakura felt afraid for the first time in his presence. She wondered what she had said that was amiss to cause him to frown so, but his face lost it's frown and the young man asked with a neutral look, "Is there another name I may call you by?"  
  
Relieved that the man had not been angered by her words or did not seem angry Sakura replied, "Anything your Lordship chooses to call me by his fine."  
  
"Hmm...how about Sakura?" the man asked. Sakura felt an upwelling of panic seize her and felt like running away. She wondered if the man had known her identity all along. If he did she wondered if he had been merely toying with her all the time, but as she saw the concerned look in his face she knew that her identity was safe. He did not know who she was. Sakura relaxed though when she heard him explaining his reasons, "This groove is full of cherry trees in full bloom and one of my favorite flowers is the cherry blossom. I believe Sakura is the name of the cherry blossom in Flora. It seems appropriate to call you that since we met here, but I shall reserve that name for I alone to call you and I will call you that only when we are alone."  
  
She blushed as she heard the protective possessiveness in his voice and wondered at what it meant. She shyly told him, "As you wish my Lord."  
  
He frowned at her once more before saying in a tired voice, "Please just call me Syaoran. 'My lord' is too formal and I do not need formality where it is not necessary."  
  
Startled he would want a kitchen maid to be so informal with him a lord Sakura stared down at her homespun smock she Chiharu had given her that she was wearing underneath the fur coat and whispered, "I cannot. That is not fitting for a servant to call a Lord by his name." She knew the rules of this kingdom were much stricter about ranking than her kingdom was and she did not wish to endanger neither herself nor the kind gentleman because of something so small.  
  
Out of the corner of her eyes Sakura saw the young lord smile playfully as he asked her in a feigned innocent voice that teased her lightly for her formality, "Well what if I order you to?"  
  
Sakura could not help but laughing at the question that was so cunningly phrased as to broke no argument in Sakura's mind that this man would have his way, "Then I will have no choice but to obey and call you Syaoran, my Lord."  
  
"Good! Then I order you to no longer call me 'my Lord' and call me Syaoran." The lord told her and smiled his gentle smile at her. He frowned suddenly seemingly realizing something and told her seriously, "Though do be careful when you call me Syaoran."  
  
"Sakura knew what he meant by the warning and smiled back at him replying, "I'll be careful." Sakura looked up at the sky then and realized that she had spent much longer in the groove than she had expected. Gathering the rabbit that had hopped back onto her lap why she was talking to Syaoran in her arms she told him, "But if you will excuse me Syaoran, I must be going back to the kitchens to help prepare the midday meal and clean up."  
  
The man nodded and Sakura stood up as carefully as she could and curtsied clumsily to him before rushing off to her tiny room and putting the rabbit in there with some lettuce for it to eat before she ran off to do her chores. She smiled to herself happy that she finally knew the young man's name was allowed, no ordered, to call him thus. "Syaoran..." she mused to herself. "That means little wolf in Fauna. Strange how he should be named thus and he is so gentle and kind and nothing like what you would expect of a wolf."  
  
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A.N. Ok I know it's contrived for Syaoran to pick Sakura as the name to call Sakura, but it is for my convenience. I was starting to get confused as to when I should have him refer to her as what and I definitely didn't want him to call her 'Thousand Furs'. So bear with it. BTW I love long reviews and you are welcome to be as harsh as you want in the review as long as you don't flame (i.e. criticism is welcome, flames are not) or point things like grammar out. I know my grammar isn't great especially my spelling and I am trying my best to pick out whatever I can.  



	7. Heart's Treasures: Part 5

Heart's Treasures: Part 5  
By: Starlight Rose  
E-mail: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: You know the routine and I'm to lazy to type it so just cut and paste a former one here.  
  
A.N. Sorry this chapter is so short and took so long to come out but I've had a lot of problems recently. First I was on a role then I had some problems that threw me into a writer's block, then to add to it my normal computer was taken away and I'm stuck working on a very horrible computer which I'm still using now, but that certainly didn't motivate me to write. Then just recently I've been dealing with some personal problems especially regarding my relationship and a very bizarre situation that I had up until now thought only happened on TV or the movies and not in real life and certainly not to myself. It really felt like I was in some shoujo anime for a while but unlike in anime, in real life I don't have some dashing hero come to mend my broken heart not that my heart is broken, but you get the point. But I'm finally able to write again and so here is the next chapter for you. Pray I have nothing else come up or you'll be waiting another two or so months for the next chapter, but everyone that has been reviewing or emailing me asking me to continue this has helped me get back to writing and to all of you I say, "Thank-you."  
  
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Syaoran smiled gently to himself as he finally picked himself up to walk back to the castle. He entered the castle and immediately was besieged by several of his advisors, "Your Highness! Where have you been? We have searched all over the castle for you."  
  
Syaoran sighed warily feeling his good mood and contented smile quickly slipping away from him, "I wished to be alone and did not want to be found."  
  
The advisors looked warily at him and chose not to argue with the temperamental king, "Your presence is required immediately in the throne room. Crown Prince Eriol Hiiragizawa of the Magicka Kingdom is here and he wishes to have an audience with you. We must not keep him waiting too long. He has been here waiting for you for the past half hour."  
  
"Why did my mother not receive him then? She usually takes care of such matters of diplomacy. I am just a figurehead." Syaoran said bitterly.  
  
The advisors bit their lip in worry already sensing that their king was not going to make things easy for them. "Her Majesty, the queen, wishes you to have the responsibility of receiving Prince Hiiragizawa since it would be the proper protocol."  
  
"Fine. I will be right there." Syaoran said turning around on his heels to head toward the throne room. When he entered, he saw a tall dark-haired young man about his age sitting quietly on a seat by the throne. He glanced the young Prince over and was not sure what to make of him. The prince was handsome and had an air of mystery, strength, and intelligence to him and something about him put Syaoran ill at ease. But Syaoran ignored all his feelings and forced a welcoming smile to his lips while saying, "Prince Hiiragizawa of the Magicka Kingdom, I welcome you to Fauna. Pray tell what errand brings you here?"  
  
The dark-haired prince smiled at Syaoran and bowed politely before saying, "King Syaoran, I thank-you for your hospitality, but it is urgent business that brings me here. You have perhaps heard of the attack on the Flora Kingdom?" Syaoran expression darkened but he nodded his head grimly. He did not like being reminded to the attack for it reminded him of the sad look on Sakura's face. At Syaoran's nod Eriol continued, "Then you also know that Flora Kingdom is closely allied with the Magicka Kingdom. When we heard of the attack on the kingdom my armies and I rushed there to help out the kingdom. We were able to save the kingdom and drive the Draconian armies off, but before we arrived, the Crown Prince of the Flora Kingdom fearing that the kingdom would fall sent the Princess of Flora off into the woods to escape with her lady-in-waiting. When I discovered what had occurred I rushed off into the woods to find the princess but I found only her lady-in-waiting. We have search all over for her but were unable to find her. We had thought she might try making her way to Magicka to seek our help but she has not or she has not reached there yet. She ran in the direction of Fauna so we thought she might be hiding somewhere in your kingdom. With your permission we would like to search for her here. King Kinomoto and the prince are beside themselves with worry."  
  
Syaoran nodded his head in understanding before saying, "You may search for her in my Kingdom as long as you respect the rights of my citizens while doing so. But may I ask why you are searching for the Florian Princess instead of King or Prince Kinomoto?"  
  
"The King and Prince are currently busy rebuilding their country after the attack and since I am to be her fiancé I have offered to look for her. I am honored they should trust me with such a duty." Eriol replied calmly.  
  
"I do not think she is hiding here for I should think from my experiences with my sisters that it would be hard for a princess to hide among peasants. She would reveal herself as being of royal birth too easily for surely no princess can live the hard life of a peasant or servant even if she is in hiding." Syaoran told the prince scornfully.  
  
"You may be right, King Li, but I and the Flora Kingdom still thank you for allowing me to search your kingdom for her." Eriol replied. He bowed once to the king before requesting, "If you will excuse me, I must continue to search for Princess Sakura." Syaoran started at the princess's name, but before he had a chance to ask anymore about the Florian Princess, the foreign Prince was already walking out of the room.  
  
Syaoran smiled sardonically to himself. How strange that he should choose to give the lost girl the same name as the Princess she might have served. No wonder Sakura had looked shocked when he chose that name for her. Syaoran wondered if he should have brought up the subject of the lost peasant girl to the prince searching for the lost princess. Bitterly he thought that they were too busy searching for a princess to care about a poor servant. 'No,' Syaoran thought, 'Sakura is better off here than in a kingdom where they probably haven't even noticed her disappearance to search for her.'  
  
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Eriol sighed in frustration knowing that the young king was probably right. He respected Sakura very much and loved her like a sister though he knew he would soon need to think of her as more. He also knew she was not averse to hard work and had one of the sweetest dispositions he had ever known, but still she was certainly unaccustomed it.  
  
It had been two weeks since he had started his search for her and he was beginning to think it hopeless. He had returned to his kingdom and reported to his parents about the attack on the Flora Kingdom. They were as relieved as he was that the kingdom was safe, but like him they also worried about the young princess's well being. They took it upon themselves to help search for Sakura within Magicka freeing Eriol to search for her elsewhere.  
  
Eriol had discretely entered The Draconian Kingdom to search for information about the young princess in the event that she had been captured though he knew the likely hood of that was slim considering if she had been discovered then most likely they would have held her for ransom. He still searched and turned up nothing not even information about any young girls that may have entered the kingdom either as prisoners or as refugees. The Draconian people laughed mirthlessly at him when he inquired about any young girls fleeing to their kingdom. Seeing the condition the kingdom was in Eriol could not blame them for no one in their right mind would flee to Draco. The people of Draco did not even want to live there. The king was greedy and the land was plighted. There were even rumors that a dragon, a species long believed to have gone extinct, still resided in the kingdom causing havoc once in a while. Eriol would have not been surprised if the rumors were true for the vast abundance of dragons in Draco in olden times was how the kingdom got its name.  
  
He had learned a lot that would stand him in good stead when he became king but he learned nothing that was of immediate interest to him. Nothing indicating that Sakura had entered the horrible kingdom. That piece of information both relieved and frustrated him for even though when in regards to the Draconians no news is good news, the lack of news was beginning to grate on his already thin nerves. Two weeks of futile searching around the neighboring kingdoms was wearing on even Eriol's large quantities of patience.  
  
To add to his problems Eriol kept thinking of Lady Daidouji in tears and the mental image was not doing much for his temperament. The violet-eyed lady-in-waiting had been making many appearances in Eriol's mind recently and each time he thought of her in tears he felt his heart contract with pain. When he thought of her grateful smile, he felt a different sort of pain in his chest, a more pleasant pain. The new mixed up emotion he was feeling toward the lady was starting to take its toll on him.  
  
It took him a little more than three hours of riding to get him back to the Flora Kingdom. Another half hour of riding brought him to the castle where he saw repairs were being done to the castle that looked to be in much better shape than it was in when he left it a little about a fortnight ago. As he entered everyone turned to watch his entrance. They all looked hopefully up at him and Eriol had to grit his teeth as he knew that he had to dash their hopes. Apparently word of Sakura's disappearance had spread throughout the castle and everyone in it had anticipated the foreign prince's return eagerly, hoping that he had managed to find their beloved princess. A groom approached his horse to led it to the stable. He looked at Eriol with his question clearly written upon his face. Eriol closed his eyes to shut out the disappointment he would see in the groom's face and shook his head.  
  
At the stable Eriol dismounted and quickly walked away from the groom who he saw was quickly surrounded by anxious Florian citizens. He saw the groom shake his head and the people's hopeful looks turn crestfallen before he was out of sight. News of his arrival if not his news spread quickly through the castle and everywhere he went he saw people lined up for a look at him trying to tell by his face whether or not he was successful. Eriol carefully schooled his face into a blank smile that was his trademark and marched purposefully to the throne room. Two of the footmen standing before the doors hastened to open the door for him. Inside the throne room King Fujitaka was sitting talking to Prince Touya and several of his advisors. At Eriol's entrance silence fell over the room as the advisors retreated to stand to the side of the throne and Touya stood up looking expectantly at Eriol. Eriol took a deep fortifying breath before bowing to the King and Prince and stating in a steady voice, "Your highness, I am sorry to report that I was not able to find the Princess Sakura. I returned to my kingdom and have informed my parents of her disappearance and a search was sent out for her. So far the search has turned up no trace of her but should any word reach us of her whereabouts you will be notified immediately. I also discretely searched the Draconian Kingdom but did not find any news of her, but there is no rumors or anything of the sort within that kingdom that the Draconian armies were able to capture anybody. On my way back here I visited the Fauna Kingdom and informed them of her disappearance and requested to be allowed to search within their borders for Princess Sakura. King Syaoran of that kingdom has granted me permission to search within his borders and I have already set a dozen of my men to searching for her there."  
  
Touya sank down into his throne after he heard the disheartening report. As much as he had hated it, he had been relying upon Eriol to find his younger sister for him. When it was clear that still no trace of his sister had been found after two weeks of searching Touya felt much of his hope that she might be somewhere safe dissipating. He had sorely hoped she had gone to the Magicka Kingdom after no trace of her had been found in the woods and the fact that she was not in the Draconian's hands was of little comfort to him. Fujitaka looked at his son's dejected face and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder. He felt older now than he had ever felt. The invasion and Sakura's subsequent disappearance had taken their toll upon the once strong king. Looking up at the young prince that looked haggard with lack of sleep due to searching valiantly for his daughter Fujitaka suggested gently, "Prince Eriol, thank-you for your efforts, but you look extremely tired. May I suggest that you go rest? My kingdom is deeply in your debt and I suggest that you avail yourself freely to our hospitality."  
  
Eriol's lips quirked into a sardonic smile at the king's concern for him, but he saw the weary expression on Fujitaka's face and instead replaced it with a compassionate look. Smiling reassuringly at the king Eriol said, "Thank-you for your concern, Your Highness, but I believe that I promised a lady to tell her any news I could find of Princess Sakura as soon as I returned even if there was no news. Could you per chance tell me where the Lady Daidouji is?"  
  
Fujitaka smiled at Eriol as Touya glared at him and said, "I believe Lady Tomoyo has recently taken to wandering around the gardens when she is not helping clean up the castle."  
  
"Thank-you, Your Highness." Eriol said bowing before turning on his heel and exiting. As soon as he left the throne room he realized his news had finally spread around the castle as he saw the forlorn expressions everyone wore and how scrupulously they were attempting to avoid looking directly in his eyes. He strode quickly and purposefully toward the garden hoping to reach Lady Daidouji before his news did. He had promised the Lady that he would find the princess and he intended to be the one to tell her he had not succeeded. He would also be the one to bear her disappointed looks, Eriol realized.  
  
He wandered into the gardens and searched about for the violet-eyed lady. She was sitting on a bench drawing and presented to his confused self a fetching picture. Sunlight gleamed off of her dark hair causing it to have a lavender tint to it as her head bent over the sheet of paper. She seemed to be completely engrossed in her work, but as he approached she lifted her beautiful face up to him and smiled hopefully. With a saddened heart Eriol watched as her face fell and she tried to hide her tears.  
  
  
Tomoyo averted her face away from the prince to keep him from seeing her cry. It was all her fault, she thought. If she had stopped Sakura from running, she would be safe now. As if sensing her incriminating thoughts Tomoyo stiffened with shock as she felt strong arms wrap around her and her head pressed to a firm muscular chest. A pleasant tingle coursed through Tomoyo's body and she shivered from the sensation. The arms about her tightened and the prince's deep, husky voice soothingly whispered, "It's okay to cry." And then as if reading her thoughts he assured her, "It was not your fault. If anything the fault was mine for not calling out to the two of you and scaring you further. But although we have not yet found Sakura we must not give up hope. She was not in the Draconian Kingdom so there is all likelihood that she is safe somewhere hiding. Sakura has a sweet way about her that makes anyone that meets her love her. She is probably being sheltered somewhere or making her way back here or to Magicka as we speak. Until I find proof that something has happened to her I will not give up hope and neither should you."  
  
Tomoyo nodded her head and whispered softly, "Thank-you." The prince's words gave her hope and courage but his touch was doing much more to her. 'Stop it!' Tomoyo told herself sternly. 'You love Sakura and Prince Eriol is to be engaged to Sakura.' She slowly pried his arms from around her and wiped her tears away. She needed to get away from the Prince and the what his touch was doing to her body and her heart.  
  
Eriol reluctantly let go of the lady and watched as she wiped her tears away wishing he had the courage to perform the task for her. He yearned to caress the her silky smooth skin and look into her violet eyes. But he reprimanded himself sharply for such thoughts. It was one thing to comfort the lady but quite another to do all the things his heart and body were trying to tell him to do. Shaking his head to clear his confusion he rose from the bench and bowed politely to Tomoyo. "I will be staying here only for tonight. I'm afraid. I need to get back to my kingdom and continue the search for Sakura. Will you allow me to escort you to dinner tonight?" Even if he could not do anything else, Eriol thought to himself, he could at least escort her to dinner. There could be no harm in that.  
  
Tomoyo looked searchingly at the Prince but found she could not read his friendly but bland expression. Biting her lip because she knew that should she agree to the offer she would have to spend more time around the Prince. As disappointed as she was to hear that he was leaving she was also relieved because she did not understand the feelings he was evoking in her and that made her uncomfortable. But to refuse him would have been extremely rude so she nodded her head and accepted the offer.  
  
Eriol sighed with relief as he walked back into the castle, but his mind was in turmoil. He wondered what he had gotten himself into by asking to escort the lady. If anything he should be trying to avoid her considering that he was quite sure the feelings he was developing for her was more than just mere friendship, but at the same time he was to be engaged to Sakura. He needed to spend less time with her but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead of thinking about it more he stalked to his room and threw himself on the bed fully clothed and forced himself to sleep.  
  
The dinner came and went with little incident except for Eriol leaving feeling an even stronger attachment to the lady-in-waiting, while Tomoyo left feeling confused and both saddened and grateful the prince was leaving early the next morning. Touya and Fujitaka left the dinner with feelings of confusion at the tension and emotions that seemed to be flowing between the two young nobles and wondering what further problems it might present to the already difficult situation.  
  
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A week passed and Sakura went about her daily routine. She could only spare the time to visit the palace garden once during the week though she tried to make the time to go. She was disappointed to find him not there when she arrived and wondered why she felt so, but brushed the thought from her mind. She brought the injured bunny that she had named Kerberus with her. She had named him that because as he began to heal the bunny began following her around wherever she went seemingly guarding her. Now that he was fully healed, she had intended to set him free and brought him to the garden to do so, but when she set him down he just sat on the ground looking expectantly up at her.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" Sakura asked the rabbit. "You're all healed now and can go home if you want." The rabbit stared up at her and twitched its nose before rising up on its hind legs and looking at her from that position. Exasperated Sakura bent down and began to push the bunny away toward the woods. Instead of running off as she expected him to do the rabbit instead craned its head and began nuzzling her hand. Sakura giggled happily and asked it, "Do you not want to go home?"  
  
The bunny responded by hopping onto her lap. Sakura sat there stroking it and then asked, "Or are you like me and have no home to go back to? If that's the case, you can stay here with me." The rabbit snuggled up on her lap as she stroked it and feel asleep.  
  
It was the heartbreaking scene of Sakura asking the bunny whether it had a home to go to that Syaoran walked into. His eyes softened as he gazed on the young girl that had not left his mind since he last saw her. For the entire week Syaoran visited the garden as often as he could to try and meet the girl that had gone through so much but remained cheerful. For some odd reason she inspired in Syaoran a sense of protectiveness and tenderness he had never felt toward any living thing. Somehow her cheerful smile had melted his cold heart and the thought of it had kept him for the most part amiable during the entire week. His servants wondered at the change in him, but fearing their good luck might end decided not to mention it to their usually taciturn king.  
  
When he saw the scene before him Syaoran was tempted to step forward and comfort the young waif, but instead bided his time and waited a few moments. After the rabbit feel asleep Syaoran stepped out from behind the tree he was standing by and said softly, "You do have a home Sakura. You are welcome to consider this your home."  
  
Sakura whirled around startled by his voice. Recognizing him she smiled brightly and replied, "Thank-you, my lord."  
  
"Syaoran." Syaoran chided gently. At the confused look on Sakura's gentle face Syaoran clarified, "My name is Syaoran. I have asked you to call me that."  
  
"Very well. Thank-you Syaoran. I will try to consider this my home from now on." Sakura replied.  
  
"I'm glad to hear that." Syaoran told her blushing slightly at her smile. "I've missed you." He continued, "Is it that busy in the kitchens that you have had no time to come here more often?"  
  
Sakura gasped inwardly. He had missed her? He had been coming here to see her? Her heart beat erratically at the pleasing thought, though why the thought was so pleasing and causing such odd reactions in her she did not know. Sakura just knew that his gentle voice and smile made her feel inordinately happy, a feeling she couldn't recall ever having and she had for the most part led a happy life. She knew that with her kingdom most likely having been destroyed and her friends and family mostly likely dead, she should not have been feeling happy, but the handsome young man before her gave her such feelings of security and warmth that she could not help having such emotions. Sakura looked down to hide the blush that was suffusing her cheeks and answered, "Yes, it has been rather busy lately. The royalty and nobility seem to hold banquets quite often."  
  
Syaoran laughed at the answer knowing quite well the truth of those words since his mother had been holding one banquet after another to try and introduce him to young ladies of the court that might have been able to entice a marriage proposal out of him. He had born it with as much patience as he could, but the simpering females that were constantly being thrown at him were wearing out his patience. Now to know that those banquets had kept him from seeing Sakura made him feel even less charitable toward his mother and her banquets. Why do I care what happens to this girl? Why should my not seeing her bother me so much? True enough the banquets got on his nerves regardless, but the fact that they made Sakura have to work harder and deprived him of time spent in his company made him want to march into his mother's quarters and demand her to stop them immediately. The thoughts and emotions were beginning to disturb him greatly so he opted to change the subject and instead asked, "So what finally brought you out here?"  
  
"I was planning on setting the bunny free but he doesn't seem to want to leave." Sakura answered relieved at the change of topic. For some reason her mentioning how busy the kitchens were thanks to the banquet caused the lord to laugh one moment then turn dark and forbidding the next and she was happy to get away from a topic that caused him to change moods so quickly.  
  
"But he refuses to leave you correct? Figures feed them once and they keep coming back." Syaoran replied jokingly. He could not believe he was joking with her. It wasn't in his nature to joke.  
  
"Yes, but he is very nice company. I have named him Kerberus." Sakura replied defending her little friend. "Is it okay for me to keep him?"  
  
Syaoran looked speculatively at her wondering how a servant girl would know about the guardian beast from mythology. It was not something he was fairly sure was thought to servant girls, but of course considering that he rarely spoke more than a few words to any of his servants he wouldn't have known. Smiling down at her hopeful expression Syaoran replied, "Of course it is if he keeps you company."  
  
"Thank-you." Sakura replied smiling. She felt so relaxed around the young man. She wondered who he was. She had heard of several lords during the weeks she was in Fauna and during the last week she had tried to listen for anything regarding a Lord Syaoran, but she heard nothing. She was sure he was a lord because of his rich clothing and refined mannerisms, but his rank remained a mystery to her. Though she admitted, she couldn't care less whether he was a lord or just a gardener since he was by far the nicest man she had ever met and save her father and Lord Yukito.  
  
The bunny stirred in her lap and blinked its black beady eyes open. It hopped out of Sakura's lap and began hopping back toward the kitchen. A few feet from her it paused and turned around expectantly as if waiting for her to follow it. Sakura laughed at its antics, but realized that she had stayed at the cherry groove much longer than she had expected. Getting up she curtseyed to the young man and excused herself saying, "I believe that Kerberus is trying to tell me that it is time for me to return to the kitchens."  
  
Syaoran smiled gently at her and with a gallant bow picked up her hand and kissed it lightly saying, "I thank-you for your company, my lady, but I shall take no more of your time." He then spoiled the effect by grinning broadly and saying, "Come back here more often. It is a relief to have someone to talk to that is not interested in only clothes, women, or marriage."  
  
Sakura smiled understandingly. she knew quite well the type of conversations most of the nobility engaged in and had found it dreadfully boring when she was a princess. She could sympathize with his need to have someone to talk to, but wondered that he had no friends that he had no friends to talk about things other than clothes, women, or marriage with. She curtseyed to him and ran off back to the kitchens where she immersed herself in her daily routine and for the moment pushed her thoughts of the handsome young man out of her mind.  
  
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A.N. Quick question to ask you guys. Should I continue to develop the relationship between Sakura and Syaoran more or should I just get on with the story. Mind you, that I'm not even a quarter of the way through the actual fairytale yet, but I can continue at the slow pace and develop things more like I am doing now and straying from the story to write my own or go on with the plot and following the fairytale.  



	8. Heart's Treasures: Part 6

Heart's Treasures: Part 6  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: The Brothers Grimm own "Thousand Furs" and Clamp, Kodansha, etc. own CCS. I don't own either and am making no profit off of this. I'm just a poor college student. This story however does belong to me and the concept and storyline is mine since I revised the original fairytale quite a bit. So don't take or else I'll hunt you down.  
  
A.N. Another chapter out. I'm on a role this is two chapters of two different stories in one day. Of course both were at least partially done but I'm not complaining. College has of course kept me really pre-occupied, but things are settling towards a lull (at least for the time being) and I actually have some time to write. I don't have a writer's block and several of my personal problems are finally getting resolved. I hope everyone enjoys and remember feedback is always more than welcomed.  
  
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Syaoran rolled over in his bed and groaned. He opened his eyes and turned them towards his window to see the pre-dawn sky. He cursed whatever had possessed him to wake up at what he considered an unholy hour. He was fairly certain no one save maybe a few servants were up at that time and his manservant was not awake either. Syaoran closed his eyes and buried himself in his blankets and tried to return to sleep. After several minutes of this, the young king realized that he could not return to sleep and with a tired sigh he rolled out of bed and stumbled over to his wash basin. He washed his face in the cool water to wake himself up and then walked slightly more steadily towards his clothes chest. He removed a tan pair of leather breeches and a loose white linen shirt and attired himself in it.   
  
Not sure what he should do at such an early hour Syaoran decided to take a walk about the castle. Stealthly he opened the door to his chambers and went into the torchlit hallway. He saw no one about and could only fainly hear off in the distance the sound of servants moving about. He walked down the corridor hearing the click of his boot heels reverberating up and down the deserted hall. He walked out through a side entrance to the castle a breathed in the fresh morning air feeling it fill his lungs and invigorating him. For being up so early Syaoran felt extremely refreshed and in a pleasant calm mood. The quiet of the morning soothed him and put him at peace as he strolled through the castle grounds.   
  
Ahead of him, from a path that Syaoran remembered from his younger days of exploring the castle led to a well, came a soft familiar voice. He quietly crept up the path to watch the owner of the voice a few moments before revealing his presence. Before him stood Sakura, for once with her hair down and without her furcoat on. She was standing before the well with a large wooden bucket sitting beside her feet. The sun rising over the horizon highlighted her auburn hair and gave it a dark golden sheen. The soft pink light of the dawn sky cast its glow upon her face and made it look like a dream while making the ill-fitting old white dress she wore look almost becoming. With a small pink flower in her hair and a little bird on her finger, Syaoran thought she looked like a beautiful wood nymph.  
  
He stood there for several minutes watching her as she seemed to talk to the little bird on her finger. She glowed with tranquility and Syaoran felt happy and at peace just watching her. The dirt stains on her face didn't matter and he noticed that beneath her rags and the dirt Sakura was very pretty. Almost too pretty to be a common scullery maid. Her face was too delicate and her skin too pale, but those thoughts were pushed out of his head as the tiny bird flew away and Sakura donned her coat once more, wrapped her hair up, and once again became the waif Syaoran had taken in.  
  
Sakura had just put her coat on when a deep husky voice asked her, "Do you always befriend every wild creature that sets foot onto castle grounds?" Startled by the voice that intruded upon the time that she generally spent alone in the morning just readjusting herself to her life, Sakura whirled around to face the person and smiled when she realized it was Syaoran.  
  
She bent her head a blushed at his question before answering, "I've always been good with animals. They seem to like me and talk to me. They've always been my friends and are a great comfort to me."  
  
"You can understand what they say to you?" Syaoran asked shocked. When Sakura nodded her head Syaoran stared speculatively at her. It was a very rare and prized gift to be able to talk to animals. Syaoran had such a gift himself but he had never met anyone else with such a gift. He smiled at her and then aslked, "Is there any other hidden gifts you have?"  
  
Sakura smiled back at him and nodded her head, "I'm also very good with plants, but everyone in Flora was good with plants and knows everything about them. I can talk to animals but I'm afraid I don't know much about them."  
  
"I can teach you about animals like that little bird you were just talking with was a thrasher, if you teach me about plants. I've heard that plants are very useful for many things and that your kingdom of Flora was renowned for its knowledge in plant lore."  
  
"I'd love to teach you more about plants, my lord." Sakura said casting her eyes down thrilled by the idea of seeing the young man that had rescued her and then befriended her despite the difference in social ranking.  
  
"Syaoran." Syaoran corrected. "I already told you Sakura that you can call me Syaoran when no one is about and I do not see anyone about."  
  
"Okay, Syaoran." Sakura said shyly.  
  
"You know it is a very rare gift to be able to communicate with both plants and animals. You are a very special girl, Sakura." Syaoran said staring her straight in the eyes. Sakura blushed at the tender tone in his voice and the sincerity in his compliment. She felt her heart give a leap at her voice and beat erratically as their eyes met and held. She was transfixed by the gentleness she saw in his eyes. They were a warm amber like molten gold. Sakura felt her breath catch in her throat. She had never felt so nervous or so comfortable simultaniously around anyone before but this young man had managed to make her feel both by just looking at her in that tender protective manner. She felt safe with him.  
  
The two stood staring in each other's eyes for several minutes before Kerberus trotted up to Sakura and began playfully tugging at her skirt to gain her attention. Sakura broke the spell holding her and Syaoran transfixed by pulling her gaze away from his and turning it to the little bunny at her feet. "I think Kerberus is trying to tell me that I need to get back to the kitchens." Sakura told Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran felt his face grow red as he realized how long he had just stood there staring at her. Realizing that because of him she might be late getting back to the kitchens from her chores and thus get into trouble for it he walked over to her and picked up the empty wooden bucket at her feet and threw it into the well allowing it to be immersed before pulling it out again. He poured the water out into another bucket sitting nearby and picked it up. Sakura watched him move with the grace of an athlete before realizing what he was doing and then rushing over him exclaiming, "Oh, I can handle that. Please hand the bucket to me and I'll bring it back to the kitchens."  
  
"Nonsense. What type of gentleman would I be to let you carry this yourself while I'm around?" Syaoran asked in what he was surprised to realize was a teasing tone. "We're friends right?"When Sakura nodded her head he continued, "Then since I'm your friend you won't mind me helping you with your chores." Syaoran could have cared less about being a gentleman, but he couldn't stand the thought of Sakura struggling with the heavy bucket then maybe getting in trouble because of him. He was glad she had answered that they were friends because for some odd reason the young girl touched him like no one else ever had and he felt a strong attraction to her that was strange for him. Around her he felt constantly relaxed because he could be himself and that made him feel happy. Being around her brought out his good points and he was going to help her anyway he could.  
  
Helpless to stop him Sakura watched him carry the full water bucket that would have given her a lot of trouble due to her short stature and its large size and heavy weight with considerable ease towards the kitchen. A bit before they reached the kitchen Sakura told him quietly, "I can handle it from here."  
  
"Are you sure?" Syaoran asked protectively looking from her to the few steps that led from where they were standing to the kitchen. When Sakura nodded an affirmative he sighed and placed the bucket down. Smiling at her with a smile Sakura thought the most beautiful thing she had ever seen he told her, "Meet me in the garden after breakfast is over and you have some free time and we'll begin our lessons."  
  
Sakura smiled sweetly up at him and replied, "I'll be there!" She then picked up the bucket and hauled it down the flight of steps and into the kitchen to cheerfully go about the rest of her morning chores so that she could go and meet Syaoran in the garden later. Chiharu watched the cheerful way Sakura moved about and smiled glad to see the sweet, gentle girl she had come to think of as a close friend happy.  
  
Syaoran watched Sakura walk down the steps and into the kitchen with a satisfied smile. Getting up at an early hour wasn't so bad after all. He would definitely have to consider getting up early again. The sunrise was a beautiful thing to be able to watch and Syaoran decided that in the right company, for example that of a certain emerald-eyed scullery maid, that it would be something he'd like to do every day.  
  
He turned around and began walking back to the castle in a much more cheerful mood than when he had left. Syaoran decided that he would pay his mother a visit and have a 'friendly chat' with her about the absurd number of banquets being held recently. The banquets were a watse of his time, the servants' time, and state funds. There was no way that he would choose any of the simpering females his mother introduced him to at the banquets for his wife. In fact Syaoran did not even want a wife and he planned on telling her so quite bluntly while he was in a good mood and more tolerant.  
  
As he walked down to his mother's chambers he encountered many servants along the way and noticed how they all seemed to try and scurry out of his way as if afraid of him. Although Syaoran was a kind and just king, he also had quite an explosive temper and most of the servants realized that and thus tried to stay away from him for fear of being on the recieving end of his wrath and short temper. When today the formerly aloof and moody king walked by them, and actually smiled rather than scowled, several of the servants recoiled in shock and stood watching him progress towards the queen's chambers in awe.  
  
Syaoran strode into his mother's quarters, his face set with determination. As soon as he reached it a harald standing at the door prepared to announce him, but Syaoran waved him away impatiently but with a kind smile. He threw open the chamber doors causing several of the maids to give a shocked exclaimation before they all began curtsying frantically. From her rooms, Yulan glided out as regal and imperious as always and glared at her son. "Must you..." she started.  
  
Syaoran cut her off before she could launch into her tirade and stated calmly, "No I could not appear before you in something more approprite since I deem my current outfit quite acceptable. If you wish for me to wear something more formal, then I suggest you get the seamtresses to sew the formal clothes to be more comfortable."  
  
Yulan suppressed a smile at the gall her son was showing. Soon he would be ready for her to hand the kingdom over to. Whatever had occured recently had definitely caused him to improve. He was no longer quite as sulky and tried to take more responsibility and now he was becoming more outspoken and actually had the courage to stand up to her. Yulan was proud of him though she wondered what had caused the change in him. "Actually..." Yulan drawled, "I was about to complain about your visiting me at such an early hour. Must you choose a time this early? The sun has barely risen and most sensible people saving servants of course are still in their beds."  
  
Syaoran blushed at the admonishment and muttered, "Sorry, I just thought it was an appropriate time to come talk to you before the day has started and we are both caught up in matters of state." Then looking at his mother's appearance observed. Though you don't look like you just got up either."  
  
This time Yulan did smile at the audacity her son seemed to be showing this morning, "To have just gotten up, you need to have gone to sleep." Seeing the worried frown on her son's face she told him gently, "I will be fine. I was just about to go take a short nap when you entered. Now tell me what you want and then leave me so I can rest."  
  
"First tell me why you stayed up all night. What matters were as pressing as that?" Syaoran challenged.  
  
Yulan sighed. She had been hoping to spare him from the problems currently plaguing her and their kingdom but knew that for her to let him take over she needed to give him the responsibility and let him know. "Our spies have reported that the Noctrus Kingdom seems unrestive. They may be planning something, possibly an attack most likely on us. Our two kingdoms have never been on friendly terms with each other. I've been analyzing our military status and compared to theirs and we are sadly lacking. I'm going to have to start building our forces up as a precaution, but that won't be enough if they attack. We could be in the same situation the Flora Kingdom was in, but worse because the Flora Kingdom was at least allied to the Magicka Kingdom and they came to their rescue. If we come under attack I'm afriad there will be more homeless children like that girl you rescued."  
  
Syaoran took in the gravity of the situation and nodded his head in understanding. He was surprised that his mother had paid attention to him when he had complained about Sakura to her, but hid it. He could understand the importance of the decisions she would be making soon. He did not want anymore children to be homeless and lost like Sakura especially his own people. For once he was happy the responsibility lay with his mother rather than himself. "So what are our options now?" he asked.  
  
"We need to form an alliance with a neighboring kingdom. The most logical choice would be the Flora or the Magicka kingdom, maybe both, but both are currently having their own problems. The Flora Kingdom is still in the process of rebuilding and the Magicka Kingdom is on guard for anymore attacks as well as looking for the lost Florian princess who is apparently engaged to the Magickian prince. We could not ally with the Draconian Kingdom because they and the Noctrus kingdom are too similar and I would not trust them not to betray us. Our only choice left is the Solarian Kingdom." Yulan stated impassively.  
  
So that's why the Magickian prince was so desperate to find the young princess, Syaoran thought. He was engaged to her. He thought of what his mother had just said and recoiled in shock at her solution. "But the Solarian Kingdom is full of religious nutcases! An alliance with them is really chancy since they are apt to declare a 'holy war' on the Noctrus Kingdom if they ally with us and provoke a war pre-emptly. Then if we managed to win with their help they might decide to declare a 'holy war' on us to convert us to worshipping their god."  
  
Yulan nodded gravely. "I know that and I'm happy to see you see the dangers as well, but we have no real other options. I've invited a delegation of theirs to attend the celebrations of the Summer Solstice to take place in about two months from now. They will be arriving the week before it and spend two weeks here. Meanwhile we can decide whether the advantages of the alliance outweighs the risks."  
  
"I see." Syaoran said nodding and admiring his mother's shrewd mind.  
  
"Now that I've explained that, what did you want to see me for?" Yulan asked.  
  
"It was nothing really important." Syaoran answered dully chastiosed for coming to trouble his mother about such small matters. He could put up with the elaborate dinners, he just hoped that Sakura wouldn't mind putting up with preparing for them too much.  
  
"It has to have been important for you to barge into my room this early. Have you found a suitable wife?" Yulan asked.  
  
Syaoran's face paled and the guilt he was feeling over bothering his mother disappeared as his anger resurfaced and he glared at her, "No I have not yet found a wife and certainly not one you would deem suitable. I came here to ask you to stop throwing those banquets to help introduce me to those vapid court ladies. It wastes my time and yours along with giving the servants more work than needed to be put upon them. Instead of attending those boring banquets maybe I should start attending your meetings with the kingdom's advisors. I had not known about the situation with the Florian Kingdom nor had I known the situation with our own kingdom. That makes me a rather shabby king, does it not? I would like to start hearing more about this. If I am king, I should start acting like one rathher than just a figurehead."  
  
"Very well. I'll stop throwing the banquets and you are free to attend the meetings whenever you feel like it." Yulan told him calmly. Syaoran recoiled in shock not believeing his ears and how easily his mother seemed to be giving up. "But," Yulan continued, "I still hold you to finding a wife by your eighteenth birthday."  
  
Sighing warily Syaoran answered with a resigned, "Yes, mother. If that is all I will leave you to your rest now." Yulan nodded her consent and Syaoran beat a hasty retreat. He had won at least a minor battle against his mother and for now that was enough.  
  
Yulan smiled to herself as her son left. Whatever had gotten into him lately had been a good thing. He worried about the servants and the amount of work they had to do, which was a mark of a true ruler, worrying about all his subjects in all aspects of their lives and not just their safety. He spoke out against her rather than sulking like a child that had been reprimanded. And he was even interested in the running of the kingdom. Soon, Yulan thought to herself. Soon she could hand over full responsibility of the ruling of the kingdom to her head-strong son. Now if he would only find himself a wife, then Yulan would be fully satisfied. He would make a fine king she decided before returning to her rooms to get some well deserved rest.  
  



	9. Heart's Treasures: Part 7

Heart's Treasures: Part 7  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
A.N. Okay the next chapter of Heart's Treasures is done. Finally huh? Yes, I know it took forever but I have it ready for reading and I've been REALLY busy with classes. Like usual forgive my small grammar and spelling mistakes because I STILL don't have a spellcheck. I have a little less than three weeks vacation time so now I actually have the time to write now the rest depends on you guys to make sure I have the motivation to write. So either give me a lot of reviews or give me really in depth reviews. If I get at least 20 reviews within the next week and a half, I'll try to get the next chapter of this out before my break ends. If not then, it may be March before you see the next chapter because right now I'm not particularly motivated to finish this story because there are other projects in other fandoms that I'd like to work on not to mention that I also have lots of things I need to do before I get swept up with my classes again and they take over all my time because being in college is no walk in the park especially if your college is rated as one of the top ten nose in book colleges in the country. Oh yeah also for the few people that are not familiar with this fairytale and are curious, I have changed the fairytale A LOT. The original Grimm's fairytale was only a few pages long i.e. less than 5 pages. If I have the time and patience I might type up the original tale a post it for comparison sake.  
  
A.N. I've started a mailing list for the sole purpose of posting my stories before they come out since author alert on fanfiction.net doesn't work unless you are a support service member. If you want to join and get my stories as I come out with them join the list. To find out more about it visit:   
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/starlight_fanfiction  
to subscribe by email send an email to:  
starlight_fanfiction-subscribe@yahoogroups.com  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS though I sure do wish I do. The marvelous and much worshipped ladies of clamp own it along with Kodansha and I'll ignore Nelvana because I consider them as owning CC which this is NOT, I repeat NOT based on. I hate the bastardized American version of CCS a.k.a. CC a lot if you can't tell. The Brothers Grimm own the original fairytale of Thousand Furs but this rewriting of it I own and if I ever find out anyone is stealing this story that I've put so much time, thought, and effort into I will be a very angry authoress.  
  
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Sakura trudged down the steps carrying the heavy bucket full of water and entered the kitchen smiling happily. She knew she had a lot of work to do, but she hoped that she could get it done fast enough to go meet Syaoran in the garden. Seeing Chiharu, Sakura called out to her, "Good morning, Chiharu."  
  
Seeing the young girl's smiling face Chiharu smiled back and greeted her, "Good morning Sakura. You've already brought in the water to cook this morning's breakfast?"  
  
"Yes. Is there anything else you need me to do?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Not really though if you really want to help you could watch over the bread that's baking in the oven for me right now. I don't really want to trust anyone else with that because with the incompetency of some of the people here, they'd just let the bread burn, bt I know I can trust you." the young cook replied. Over the past few weeks she had become extremely fond of the young girl from Flora and had become rather protective of her. Though it seemed that a few of the other girl's didn't like Sakura too much. They thought she was just too haughty, but as long as they knew Chiharu had taken the girl under her wing none of them dared to say or do anything harmful to Sakura. Rather they just left her to herself.   
  
Chiharu had noticed that first day that Sakura was far from haughty, shy and secretive maybe, but not overly proud.So she had made sure to give Sakura the lighter task seeing as how the girl was unused to kitchen work, but despite that Sakura did more than she needed to. Every morning she woke before sunrise and fetched the water for the breakfast preparations while the other scullery maids stayed in their beds. With the banquets being held everyday the past few weeks, Chiharu was glad to have Sakura and her cheerful, hardworking personality around. It lightened her workload quite a bit and made her respect and like the girl even more.  
  
Sakura nodded her head and went over to the oven and pulled up a chair in front of it. "Ne, Chiharu."  
  
"Hmm...?" Chiharu said from the basin where she sat washing some fruit.  
  
"Do you think that I can get my morning's work done by the time breakfast is over?" Sakura asked hopefully.  
  
Chiharu examined the girl and the bright glow on her face and the light in her eyes. She smiled and wondered what happened to cause the light to enter Sakura's normally sad eyes. Although she was cheerful Sakura always had a sadness about her probably because of losing her home. "I don't see why not?" She told Sakura as she set aside some of the fruit. "If not then I'll get one of the other girls to do it for you. Afterall you do more than your share in the mornings, getting up to help me prepare breakfast for all of them and the nobility. Why do you ask though? Is there something you wanted to do?"  
  
Sakura looked down and blushed before answering, "I promised to meet someone in the garden. He promised to teach me about animals. Though it's not right for others to do my work for me. I guess I'll just have to work harder to et it done"  
  
"I see." Chiharu replied smiling as she made a mental note to give Sakura less work to do this morning. The girl really did more than she needed to. She assumed by the blush on Sakura's cheek that she had developed a tendre for whoever she was meeting. She guessed that Sakura had met some stable-hand or hunter in the garden and was happy for the girl. Maybe a bit of romance in her life would remove the saddness from her eyes. She just hoped whoever the young man was that he wouldn't end up hurting the girl. Smiling to herself, she decided to get Takashi to ask around to find out who the young man was and maybe have a talk with him.  
  
Taking an apple out of the wash basin she wiped it on her apron and handed it to Sakura, "Here's breakfast for your little friend Kero...oh what was it again?"  
  
"Kerberus." Sakura replied giggling. "Thank-you." Sakura took the apple from Chiharu and feed it to her bunny as it bounced happily on her lap. Kerberus had become well trained and generally kept out of the way so that few people in the kitchen minded him as he followed his mistress about her work. Some of the kitchen staff had become fond enough of the little rabbit to start feeding him tidbits of food now and then.  
  
"Oh the bread's done." Sakura announced softly as she took a few rags and removed the rack of bread from the oven.Taking the rack over to the table she set it down and Chiharu smiled at her.   
  
"Why don't you go ahead and eat before those lazy sloths get up and demand to be fed." Chiharu told her winking michieviously before adding, "The perks of waking up early and helping with breakfast for everyone else is that you get first choice." Saying so she wiped her hands on her apron went over to the bread and removed the two fluffest looking rolls. She took them over to a table and patted the stool next to her. "Come over here and eat Sakura. Since no else is up yet we can spoil ourselves and have some butter with the bread." Saying so she took out the butter and spread some liberally over the two rolls and removed a pitcher of milk and poured two cups of it for the two of them.  
  
Sakura smiled back and joined Chiharu for breakfast. As they ate they talked and Chiharu managed to discover that Sakura had met the person she was meeting in the garden later in the morning in the garden several weeks ago. She could tell by the way the girl talked about the young man that she was already enraptured by the boy. Sakura then managed to pry out of her information about her and Takashi and how they grew up together and managed to get jobs working in the palace together.  
  
After breakfast was done Chiharu went back to her breakfast preparations and Sakura went back to her chores as servants slowly drifted into the kitchen seeking a bite for breakfast. The rest of the morning Sakura spent fetching eggs for the nobilities's breakfast, sweeping the floor, and helping to prepare some of the food. As soon as her chores for the morning were done and breakfast had been served to all the nobles who generally didn't wake up until around ten, Sakura rushed out of the kitchen and to the garden with Chiharu watching her merrily.  
  
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When Syaoran reached his quarters he found several of his servants scattered around the room turning over the chairs, desk, and tables along with several others rummaging through his wardrobe seemingly looking for something. Directiing orders at all of them was Takashi, his manservant who was before Sakura, the closest thing Syaoran had to a friend. Walking to Takashi with a puzzled frown etched on his face, Syaoran asked him, "What in the world are you doing to my room?"  
  
Takashi turned around to look at him and actually opened his eyes up long enough to blink a few times before exclaiming, "Your Majesty! You're alright!" Takashi then swept Syaoran up uncerimoniously into a hug. "I'm so happy you're alright, sire. I thought for sure that my head was going to be removed from my head or something for losing you like that."  
  
Syaoran just stared at him in confusion. "Of course I'm alright. What in the world would lead you to think otherwise and what are you babbling about?" Syaoran demanded to know.  
  
"Well I came in here this morning to wake you up and didn't see you in here. I asked around to see if anyone saw you, but no one had and so I thought you had been kidnapped and if you had then my life would surely be forfeit. But despite that we decided that if you had been kidnapped there would have at least been some sort of ransom note so we started searching your room for one." Takashi explained relieved that his head would stay right where it was.  
  
The young king blinked several times trying to assimulate all that he had just been told and his lips slowly curled up into an amused smirk before he could not contain it anymore and burst out laughing to the astonishment of his servants. "You thought I was kidnapped!" Syaoran roared with laughter. At the dumbfounded and confused looks on his servants faces and the mechanical nod they gave him he just continued laughing harder.   
  
Finally regaining his composure he told them reassuringly, "I'm sorry to have worried you, but I was fine. I just woke up early and decided to take a walk. I might be doing that more often now so be prepared to not turn my room upside down looking for a ransom note." Again the servants just nodded their heads dumbly so Syaoran continued, "So now, I wouled appriciate it if all of you would kindly put my room back in order. I'm going into my study which has hopefully not been ransacked and you are going to bring me my breakfast then call the counselors in to me and inform them that I would like to get all of this morning's work done before the end of breakfast."  
  
The servants nodded once more before leaving to see to their king's instructions completely in awe at his odd mood this particular morning. They expected him to be furious when he discovered their stupidity, or more needless worry brought upon by Takashi's overactive imagination, but instead he seemed to be in a wonderful mood and laughed at the situation. That was the first time since he was child that they had seen the young king laugh, and they rather hoped it wasn't the last since his current mood was much better than his former tempermental tendancies.  
  
When Syaoran's counselors entered his room they saw him bent over his desk dutifully doing the paperwork that he normally detested so much. Pushed to the side of the desk was a plate of food that was mostly eaten. Whatever had gotten into their king, had certainly been good for him. The elder of the group of advisors cleared his throat trying to unobtrusively get the king's attention. Syaoran looked up from the stack of petitions he was looking at and smiled at his advisors. "I'm glad you're here," he told them. "I wanted you to help me get through this morning's work quickly. I have made some plans for right after breakfast is finished being served to all those lazy frivolous nobles and wanted to get my work done early. Now I'm almost done with this morning's list of petitions, but I have heard from my mother that there is some sort of situation brewing with the Noctrus Kingdom. I would like you to give me a detailed report on that. Since I called you here pre-emptly I realize you might not have all your notes with you, but please appraise me as well as you can without them and I will be requiring a more detailed report later."  
  
The advisors stood staring at him completely dumbfounded. If it wasn't for the fact that it was unseemly for their jaws to drop wide open they probably would have. Syaoran continued doing his petitions and when after five minutes had elapsed and no one had said anything a trace of his former temper returned as he snapped his head up and asked them in a slightly agitated tone, "Well, what are you waiting for? It couldn't be an invitation because I just gave you one."  
  
At that the counselors snapped out of their stupor and began briefing him on the situation. Syaoran listened attentively trying to finish his list of petitions simultaniously but realizing that both required a good bit of his concentration, he finally opted to put his quill down and gave his advisors his full attention. The situation with the Noctrus Kingdom was worse than he had expected but still his kingdom had time to prepare. He grilled his advisors on the Fauna Kingdom's situation and their reports were positive though, it was a sure thing that the Fauna Kingdom needed to form some sort of alliance with another kingdom. thus Syaoran spent his morning.  
  
After he finished his work, Syaoran headed for the royal library. Looking around it he finally spotted the book he was looking for. It was a book he remembered reading as a child when he was particularly lonely. It was a book about animals that had detailed pictures and descriptions about all sorts of animals both wild and domesticated. He figured it would be a good way to teach Sakura since the only other way he could introduce her to the varying types of animals was to take her out into the forest, and that he would not do. It was too dangerous out in the forest for a young girl like her even if she had him to protect her. As much as Syaoran loved the forest and the peace it seemed to bring him, he would not endanger Sakura. Also should anyone spot them together alone in the forest then Sakura's reputation would be tarnished by him and her life might be in danger as well.  
  
After taking the book, Syaoran headed towards the garden. Meeting several gardeners along the way, he dismissed them and told them that he wanted to be alone for the next two hours and that all of them were to leave him alone. Now he could learn about the plants in the garden from Sakura without fear of discovery. Getting to the grove he looked around for her and after not seeing her decided to do something he hadn't done in a long time. Syaoran, the king of Fauna, decided to climb a tree. Grabbing onto one branch he pulled himself up and kept doing so until he was near the top. Sitting nestled in the tree's branches Syaoran closed his eyes and relaxed. All that happened that morning had tired him out a good deal, but he felt much better than he had since his father died and the weight of the kingdom had landed on his young shoulders.  
  
But Syaoran knew that the main reason he felt so good was because of Sakura. She had changed him, and softened his heart along with his temper. She had made him more relaxed and amicable. With her he could be Syaoran and not the king, because that's all she really knew him as. With others they just saw the king rather than a young man, starving for true companionship.With others Syaoran had to play the role of a king. A role that until Sakura came along and instilled in him a desire to protect her and others like her, he had detested. Now he welcomed his duties becayse he realized how important they were. True he did not wield a vast amount of power, but it seemed to him now that he examined things more closely and with a clearer head, that his mother was giving him more power gradually as if training him. Smiling to himself he silently thanked the girl for helping him and promised that no matter what he would always protect her. He didn't know why or how she managed to get into his heart, but he knew that she had gotten in and would always stay there. She was truthfully his first true friend.  
  
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Sakura raced out of the kitchen with Kerberus hopping behind her and got to the garden to see no trace of Syaoran anywhere. Sighing sadly she sat down beneath one of the cherry trees only to hear some leaves rustling abover her head. Craning her head upwards to see what had caused the noise, Sakura let out a shriek as something dropped down from the branches.  
  
Strong hands brushed chestnut brown hair out of golden eyes that looked worriedly at her. "Are you alright Sakura? I didn't hurt you did I?" Syaoran asked.  
  
Sakura blinked a few times trying to regain her composure and blushed at her reaction. It was silly of her to scream like that and she was embarrassed to have worried him, "No, I'm fine," she told him, "I was just startled when you dropped out of the tree like that. What were you doing up there?"  
  
Syaoran grinned sheepishly before replying, "I was just thinking. I'm sorry I startled you though. If you want we can start our lessons now. No one's around so you don't need to worry about being caught. Would you like me to start or would you like to start?"  
  
"Hoe?' Sakura asked Syaoran.  
  
"Ah...the lessons about plants and animals." Syaoran replied looking away and blushing as he saw her emerald green eyes bear into his own. She really did have lovely eyes, he thought. Then he slapped himself mentally for acting like a fool. First he nearly scares her half to death by jumping out of a tree, then he starts rushing into their plans without even a greeting, and now he has to act like the idiot. This was not how he had wanted the meeting to go, but Sakura seemed completely oblivious to his discomfiture.  
  
"Could we really learn about animals first?" Sakura asked timidly.  
  
"Of course." Syaoran replied, "Although, I can't teach you with real animals. To teach you about real animals we'd need to go into the forest and that's not safe. I don't want to endanger your life needlessly. But we can learn about the animals that inhabit this garden and for the other animals I brought a book to help teach you with."  
  
So Sakura and Syaoran spent the next hour looking at the pictures in the book. Syaoran patiently pointed out distinguishing features that each of the animals they looked at possessed as Sakura eagerly absorbed everything he said and read the passages in the book. As he watched her reading the book though, Syaoran felt an old sense of something not quite right about the orphan girl. For sure she was as harmless as anyone could come, but Sakura seemed so much more than what she claimed to be. She was supposedly only a lady's maid, but yet she spoke with a refined air and she could read, not only the text written in the current universal language but also a few of the captions written in the old tongue which few except the most highly educated were ever taught. But Syaoran decided that the chances that Sakura was other than what she seemed being unlikely and put her level of education off as being due to her having a kind mistress that might have taught her.  
  
After an hour bent over the book studying its contents both were happy to start on the lessons about plants. A lesson that would allow them to wander the garden to examine the plants. As Sakura lead Syaoran around the garden and told him about all the plants, their uses, and how to care for them, she noted that no one else seemed to be around including any of the army of gardeners that the palace employed. Turning to Syaoran she asked noted to him, "I wonder where all the gardeners are? There are usually several of them around and most of them are really nice to me."  
  
Syaoran heard her question and sweated a little. He wasn't sure what to tell her in response to that. He couldn't tell her that he had dismissed all of the gardeners so that they could have their lessons in private because he knew Sakura was an intelligent if rather innocent unassuming girl and she would surely figure that something was up if for a lord to have that much control over the royal gardeners. But Syaoran also hated lying and he felt he could not honestly bring himself to lie to her either and since Sakura seemed to expect some sort of reply from him, he couldn't just stay silent because it would seem like he was ignoring her. So taking a deep breathe and apologizing mentally for the half-truth he was going to tell her he smiled gently at her and told her, "Oh, ummm....I believe the king dismissed them all for a few hours today. He thought they could use a break."  
  
Sakura's mouth went round in an 'O' and Syaoran found himself strangely attracted to her pink lips as it then cuyrved into a smile and said, "That was really nice of him." Syaoran just nodded mutely and continued watching her mouth. Seeing his preocupation Sakura asked him, "Are you alright Syaoran?"  
  
"Huh?" Syaoran asked all so gracefully as he broke his study of her mouth and began blushing furiously. He was glad she hadn't caught on to where he was staring because he couldn't imagine how he would have explained to her why he was starring at her lips. But they looked so soft and alluring almost...almost...inviting him to kiss them. Noticing his train of thoughts, he kicked himself mentally for being an idiot. Here she was trying to be his friend, was worried for him, and he was thinking of taking advantage of her by kissing her. But somehow a voice in his heart said he wouldn't be taking advantage of her if he truly cared for her. He squashed the voice asking how he could care for her in that way. He had never cared for anybody in that way before. He had a few short lived relationships before but nothing permanent and those young ladies had been more interested in the title of 'queen' than in him. Now comes Sakura, a sweet, caring young girl and in the few days he had known her he had grown extremely fond and protective of her. He wondered what it was about her that made him take to her so quickly, but he supposed that part of her allure was that she truly seemed to like him for himself rather than for his title.  
  
"I asked if you were alright." Sakura told him an anxious frown creasing her petite features and she put a hand to his forehead to check his temperature. Syaoran's temperature began to rise even more as he felt her soft skin touch his and he felt a jolt go through him. Sakura removed her hand quickly as if feeling the shock herself and stared at him a moment before told him with her checkes suffused with a becoming red flush, "You feel hot and your face seems slightly flushed. Maybe you should go check and see if you're sick."  
  
"That's a good idea." Syaoran told her taking that as his excuse to escape. He enjoyed spending time with Sakura but today something seemed to be going on with him and he didn't like it one bit. Deciding to leave before he did something stupid to hurt or offend his first ever friend he bowed gallantly and said, "If you'll excuse me. my lady, I will take my leave of you now."  
  
Sakura nodded and watched as he walked off her face still flushed and she stared down at her hand after he had left. She could still feel the warmth of his skin and the faint pleasant tingle that had passed through her body when she had touched him. It was almost like a spark had leaped between them. Sakura shook her head in a daze and smiled ruefully down to Kerberus and asked him, "Should we head back to the kitchens now?" Kerberus blinked his beady eyes at her and began hoping back to the kitchens. Sakura followed him sadly because she knew that she was beginning to fall for the young man, but she also knew with her current position in life it was an impossible match. He probably felt nothing more than pity for her, and if he did it still didn't matter because he was a lord and she was a lowly scullery maid.  
  
For the next two months Syaoran kept waking up early and meeting Sakura at the well enjoying her company early in the morning and helping her with her few outdoor chores and after breakfast the two met again to exchange their knowlegde. As much as he enjoyed his time with her Syaoran kept his contact with her to a minimum afraid of what might happen if he got too close to her but he slowly felt that it was no good because his feeling for her were steadily growing and he knew how dangerous that was. He should have cut off contact with her completely but he couldn't bring himself to cut himself off completely from the one thing that had ever been able to bring him out of his shell. Sakura also tried to limit the contact between for fear of her falling more for the young man and afraid to because it was an impossible situation. But she already knew in her heart it was too late, but she kept smiling for him, kept being his friend because she knrew he needed it though it hurt her to know that their friendship was already forbidden enough without there being more.  
  
And for those two months the kitchen servants saw a glow in Sakura they had never seen before though the sadness in her eyes remained though this sadness seemed to be from something else. The castle staff and the king's advisors also noticed a remarkable change in their king. He was no longer sulky and moody but now if not actually cheerful and friendly, then at least cordial to everyone he met especially servants. He carried his duties out without fail and without complaint. Yelan saw the change in her son and was happy for it and slowly began trusting him with matters of state more and more, though she wondered what had brought it about.  
  
And at the end of those two months the delegation from Solaria arrived and Syaoran was swept into the flurry of activity that surround it it including the diplomatic meetings as Sakura was swept into the preparations for the large ball and banquet to be held to celebrate the Summer Solstice. For a full week neither saw much of each other, so busy was their schedule, but as much as they each missed the other's company they still carried out their duties diligently. And finally the day of the Summer Soltice celebration arrived.  
  
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REVIEW! PLEASE! IF YOU WANT ANOTHER CHAPTER SOON REVIEW! 


	10. Heart's Treasures: Part 8

Heart's Treasures: Part 8  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
A.N. I proudly present to you chapter 8! Less than a week to do this and I even got that 4th chapter of Cards and Wands done. I'm so proud of myself, but do you see how motivated all your reviews made me to write when I actually have time. To be honest this chapter only took me two days to write. This is a chapter for the E+T fans. No S+S in this one I'm afraid because this one focuses on the events in Flora to tell you what's going on over there, but I promise to get back to Fauna and what's happening with Sakura and Syaoran in the next chapter. If I stay this motivated*HINT HINT REVIEW* then I might have another chapter out by next week. And if you can't tell, this will be a VERY long story. You can compare it to the original fairytale and see just where in that fairytale I currently am at.  
  
Disclaimer: The original tale of Thousand Furs belongs to the Brother's Grimm (well sort of, but I'm not getting into the messy business of explaining the history of fairytales). CCS and its characters belong to Clamp. This story belongs to me however, so DON"T STEAL! I worked really hard on this and I will be pissed if anyone stole my idea or my story.  
  
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Eriol sighed. It had been a month since he had last visited Flora and it was time he went back there again. The site of Flora no longer sent pangs of guilt to his heart since the palace was now fully restored and as lovely as it was before the razing it had recieved from the Draconian soldiers. Unfortunately though the site of the place itself did not send pangs of guilt stabbing at him, the atmosphere still did. The once happy kingdom had not been the same since the disappearance of their princess nearly three months ago. His every trip to the kingdom reminded him of his failure to find the enchantingly sweet princess.  
  
His trip to Flora was to him both something he rejoiced at and something he dreaded. Visiting Flora meant he would be able to visit with the Lady Tomoyo Daidouji, but it also meant telling her and everyone else in Flora that he still hadn't found Sakura yet. As much as he hated seeing the disappointment in everyone else's eyes, it was the sadness in the court lady's eyes that hurt him the most. He honestly could not bear to see the mournful and guilty expression in Lady Tomoyo's eyes every time he visited and told her there was still no trace of Sakura. He was beginning to give up hope that Sakura would ever reappear and he could tell so was everyone else, especially Lady Tomoyo. She never told him but he knew that the lady had loved the young princess more than she had loved anything else and it hurt him to have to hurt her like that everytime he visited.   
  
But no matter how much it hurt him, he still looked forward to seeing her because at this point he would be just plain out lying to himself if he didn't admit, he was in love with her. Yes, Prince Eriol Hiiragizawa, was in love with Lady Tomoyo Daidouji, his fiancee's best friend. It was just pure irony. Before the last three months had happened Eriol hadn't loved anybody so he was content with marrying Princess Sakura. Afterall, she was an extremely intelligent, sweet, and caring young lady that any man would have loved to call his own, and Eriol was friends with her so if their wasn't love in the match there was at least fondness for one another. But all that changed three months ago on the night of Sakura's sixteenth birthday. Eriol had always noticed the Lady Tomoyo before. It was hard not to notice her considering how beautiful she was and considering he was quite good friends with Sakura and so was Lady Tomoyo so he was consequently friends with her too. But he had never spent a large amount of time with the lady, he hadn't really gotten to know her. Until Sakura's birthday when she disappeared and Eriol took it upon himself to search for her. Of course because of it he often had to come back to Flora to search for any hints to her whereabouts or to report to the Florian King his progress, as non-existant as it was. That was when he started to happen. Eriol started to find himself more and more attracted to Lady Tomoyo as he began spending more and more time with her. She understood him perfectly and she knew him better than anyone had ever known him before and Eriol found himself liking the notion of someone knowing him better than he knew himself, because God only knew how much he tried to prevent that from happening. He was friendly and polite outwardly but in truth Eriol had errected a shell around himself, a shell of duty and responsibility. Lady Tomoyo pierced through that shell without even trying and Eriol loved her for that because he discovered that was what he needed.  
  
And there his problem lay. Eriol was engaged to Sakura who was currently missing and for him to be in love with Lady Tomoyo was definitely not making things easy on him. His conscience nagged at him everytime he came back from a fruitless search, accusing him of not trying hard enough. And Eriol could not argue otherwise because in truth although he was worried about Sakura's welfare, he wasn't sure he wanted her to return. For Sakura to return would mean that he would have to marry her and now that he found someone he actually loved, Eriol wasn't sure he could marry her. The Magickian Prince was not in an enviable position. Guilt racked him contantly but he could not but off his joy at seeing and spending time with Lady Tomoyo. Eriol feverantly prayed that by some miracle Sakura could be found, but he would still be saved from marrying her because he was beginning to think that Lady Tomoyo might have also been developing feeling for him other than friendship. But as well as she knew him, he knew her. He knew that she felt the guilt and remorse he felt if not more so because she loved Sakura and for her to love him would mean to her that she was betraying Sakura.  
  
Eriol finally saw the palace gates looming over him and breathed a sigh of relief. He was tired and could use a nap in the comfortable quarters that hyad now officially been declared his since he visited the Florian palace so often. Unfortunately his nap had to wait until after he had had an audience with King Fujitaka, so after handing his horse over to the stablehands he walked off to the throne room in search of the King who was expecting him.  
  
Fujitaka was in the throne room talking with his advisors when Eriol entered. He looked up at Eriol's entrance and smiled warmly at the Magickian Prince. Eriol smiled back at him and as he did so, he noticed the tired look in Fujitaka's eyes and also noticed the once young looking king seemed to have aged ten years in the short span of three months. Eriol knew exactly why the king seemed to have aged so much though. He knew losing Sakura had been a difficult blow for the King to take, but bore it with fortitude for the sake of his subjects and Touya.   
  
"Prince Eriol, it is good to see you again. I gather you will be staying here with us for the Summer Sotstice celebrations." Fujitaka greeted Eriol with after he had dismissed his counselors.  
  
Eriol started a bit before he realized that the Summer Solstice was the next day and he had arrived just in time for it. He sweatdropped a bit when he realized he didn't have any formal clothes for the occassion, but knew that to stay in Flora- as he had planned on doing- it would have been rude of him to decline the invitation to the celebrations especially the large ball. So smiling apologetically at the King Eriol replied, "I'm afraid the Summer Solstice slipped my mind, Your Highness, so hence I have nothing appropriate for the occassion."  
  
The King waved away the concern and said kindly, "Yes, I had assumed to might be a bit too busy and preoccupied to remember so I've already arranged for Lady Tomoyo to arrange for appropriate garments for you."  
  
"If that is the case, then I would be happy to join you in your festivities." Eriol replied bowing. Truth be told, he really didn't feel too much in the mood for festivities, but to refuse would have been inexcusably rude.  
  
"I;m glad to hear that." Fujitaka said before his countanence turned serious. "How has the search been going?"  
  
Eriol winced at the mention of the search but he knew that that was the sole reason he should have been visiting Flora the past few months so with a sad shake of his head he said, "We have found no traces of her yet. She is to my knowledge not in Magicka, Draconia, Noctrus, or Fauna. I assume that she is not still here in Flora either, but there is no place else to look for her except for Solaria which seems a trifle far away, but I have still dispatched some of my men to go search for her there."  
  
Fujitaka nodded his head sadly having already expected the news. Looking wistfully at the young prince he carefully weighed his next words. "Prince Eriol, you are like son to me and I thank-you sincerely for all the assistance you have given this kingdom, especially in searching for Sakura. Though if at this point we still have not found Sakura, I dispair at our ever finding her. Therefore, I shall not hold you to your engagement with her so that you may persue another match."  
  
Eriol looked at the King in shock knowing full well what the King was implying and while being grateful that the King had considered his feelings so, Eriol's guilt still racked him and he remained determined to find Sakura or at least find out what happened to her. Setting a look of grim determination on his face Eriol replied, "I beg Your Highness to give me a year to find Princess Sakura or at least find out what happened to her. If at this point we still haven't found that anything bad has happened to her then she may still be safe and hiding somewhere. I could never live with myself if I gave up on the search too soon and for me to break my engagement with the Princess will be like my admitting defeat."  
  
Looking shrewdly at Eriol Fujitaka asked him solemnly, "Are you quite sure? I am not blind to your attachment of Tomoyo, who is like a second daughter to me, and I suspect the attachment is mutual. If you break the engagement it does not need mean that we have given up hope of ever finding Sakura, but you can still persue the match with Tomoyo."  
  
Eriol shook his head sadly, "I am quite sure. If I break the engagement now, it will seem as if we've given up hope and I can't do that, or at least not yet. And I am fairly certain I speak for both myself and the Lady Tomoyo when I say that we would both feel like we were betraying Princess Sakura if I broke the engagement and persued Lady Tomoyo with only three months having passed since her disappearance."  
  
"Very well then. I shall see you tonight for dinner and then tomorrow at the ball. I have a very important announcement I need to make tomorrow and I would like you to be there to hear it as well so I am glad to hear you will be attending." Fujitaka said effectively dismissing the Prince.  
  
Eriol bowed to the King and left heading towards his quarters for a nap though he did not feel much like napping anymore. His mind was at that time too preoccupied with some disturbing thoughts.  
  
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Tomoyo sighed as she sat down on her bed. Tonight was the night of the Summer Solstice Ball and Tomoyo was tired of it all. She had spent all day trying to act cheerful and happy as everyone celebrated the occassion but in reality she had just wanted to lock herself in her rooms and cry. She finally was able to escape to her rooms with the excuse of preparing for the ball. She knew that those closets to her didn't believe her one bit, but they respected her enough to leave her alone at the very least.  
  
She closed her eyes as she felt tears prickling at her eyes. This year was the first year ever that Tomoyo had not celebrated the Summer Solstice without Sakura by her side. She missed her best friend greatly. The dress she had given Sakura less than three months ago was designed specifically for the Summer Solstice celebrations and Tomoyo had looked forward to Sakura wearing it looking more lovely than anything. It hurt her that she wouldn't be able to see Sakura in it dancing with Touya, Yukito, Fujitaka, and now Eriol.  
  
Eriol. The Magickian Prince's name brought a sad smile to her lips. Eriol had talked to her yesterday evening about his audience with the King and Tomoyo was as disturbed about it as he was. She knew the King didn't want to give up on the search for Sakura anymore than Eriol or she did, but she wondered why the King chose to offer to cancel the engagement. She hoped it wasn't because of her. A wave of guilt immersed her thinking about because the King she knew was a perceptive man. She could guess that he had started to notice her attachment to the Prince.  
  
How could she not become attached to him? He was wonderful. Before Sakura's disappearance, Tomoyo had barely known the young man, but after she started spending more time with him in order to help in the search for her best friend. And it was then that Tomoyo discovered to her horror, that she could love him. She could love the intended of her best friend. And now, she couldn't deny that she was already beginning to love him. He was everything she ever wanted, kind, intelligent, handsome, and charming. And he understood her. He understood her so well that he could read her every emotion, and he did. Everytime that Tomoyo had felt depressed over Sakura's disappearance, he comforted her and cajoled her until she could smile again.  
  
And this made Tomoyo feel guiltier than she had ever felt before. She had stopped blaming herself for her role in Sakura's disappearance, because it was futile as Eriol blaming himself, or Touya blaming himself. But she could stop feeling remorse over the lose of her best friend, and despite the remorse she had managed to fall in love with Sakura's fiance. To her it it felt like betrayal. Tomoyo felt like she was betraying Sakura in every way imaginable because a small part of her almost wished that Sakura would not be found, or at least not yet. She hated that small part of her. She hated her selfishness, because it was selfishness that caused that part of her to even exist. It was her desire to be with Prince Eriol and if Sakura was found she would surely marry the Prince. There was no avoiding it. And Tomoyo wasn't sure if she was strong enough to watch those two together. Tomoyo once loved Sakura but now the love she had for Sakura had transfered over Eriol. Her love for Sakura now was that of a sister or a close friend. and watching your sister married to the one you loved most was the most painful torture tOmoyo could think of.  
  
Not like she disagreed with Eriol in his decision to wait a year before canceling the engagement. She agreed with him. Even if Eriol cared for her and she suspected he did, they would both at this point feel too guilty to be happy together, because their happiness would come at the cost of Sakura's happiness and that neither one of them to tolerate. Eriol hadn't told her why the King offered, but Tomoyo could guess it was because of her. So now Tomoyo was just left with the guilt of hoping her friend was safe but wouldn't be found until a year had passed. Though if Sakura did return sooner, Tomoyo knew that no matter the sacrifice she would have had to make, she would be the one that rejoiced the most at finding her best friend. If that happened Tomoyo was resigned to just smile and be happy for her friend and her love's sake while hiding all her pain behind the smile.  
  
A soft knock sounded on Tomoyo's door causing her to break out of her thoughts. Opening the door she found her lady's maid, Naoko, standing in front of her. Bowing politely to the dark-haired lasy, Naoko smiled and said, "I'm here to help you prepare."  
  
Tomoyo nodded and let the girl in and when two hours later Eriol knocked on her door Tomoyo was ready and waiting for him. Eriol had offered to escort Tomoyo to the ball yesterday night at the dinner after he had thanked her for arranging for an outfit for him to wear to the masqurade ball. When Tomoyo opened the door and saw him she nearly realled in shock. He was more handsome than she had ever seen him. The outfit she chose for him was the Ice King. The frost blue shimmery satin lined with silver accented his dark eyes and the bit of silver that streaked his black hair made him look distinguished. The outfit looked wonderful on him and Tomoyo found herself blushing as he smiled at her and offered her his arm.  
  
Eriol gazed admiringly at the lady before him. She looked beautiful in her Snow Queen costume of pure white and silver. The white almost blended with her creamy skin making the stark contrast of her bright violet eyes and black hair even more startling and alluring. It was the first time he had seen her in full formal dress and he liked how elegant she looked in it. She carried herself like the Queen that she was dressed as and that he knew she was in heart. He smiled and felt his heart leap when she gently took his arm and allowed him to lead her to the ball extremely happy for their matching costume as it allowed him a good excuse to monopolize her company.  
  
The rest of the evening went wonderfully for the two. They enjoyed each other's company immensely and for that one night allowed themselves to forget about the fact that Eriol was engaged to Sakura who was currently missing. And they both found it extremely advantagous to be in each other's company as well since for Tomoyo it meant not having to dance with some of the boring noblemen her mother would have liked her to marry and for Eriol it meant not having to dance attendance to empty-headed ladies that were mostly interested in his throne since the news of his engagement to Sakura was not entirely public knowledge. Enough people knew about it, but it was never officially announced, however the documents had already been drawn up so it was official.  
  
As the evening began to draw to a close and the magic of the ball wore off, they each smiled bittersweet smiles knowing full well what they were returning to the next day. For Eriol it was continueing searching for Sakura and for Tomoyo it was to continue worrying about the girl, for despite the feelings they shared for each other, they also loved Sakura and put her safety and welfare first. The bell to end the ball and for the unmasking finally rang and Eriol and Tomoyo gave each other one final sad smile before removing the other's mask. Not like they needed to since Eriol had escorted her there and Tomoyo had picked out his costume so they both knew who the other were but it was nice to pretend for even an evening that they were strangers just meeting that could fall in love.  
  
Fujitaka stood up and smiled at his guests and it occured to Eriol that the King's smile was rather sad and he then remembered how Fujitaka said he had something important to announce. Eriol wondered what the announcement was but knew that he need not wonder long because the King seemeed about ready to speak.  
  
"I am glad all of you could make it to this joyous occassion of the Summer Solstice to help me celebrate it." Fujitaka said addressing the assembly. "Tonight has been absolutely wonderful and I must thank everyone that helped in the preparations. It has been a memorable night and I am happy for that because I would not want to make my announcement on any less of a wonderful night." The King paused as people around the room began murmuring. When the noise had died down Fujitaka continued, "I am happy to announce that I will be abdicating the throne in favor of my son, Touya, by this time next month. I feel that it is about time that he had a chance to rule and as happy as I was being King of this wonderful Kingdom, I feel I am now to old to do the job properly."  
  
Eriol stared at the King in shock as well as the rest of the room. Never had he imagined that the King's announcement would be along these lines. He looked to the front of the room and saw Prince Touya about to object to his father's announcement when a look from the King silenced the Prince causing him to just look wooriedly at his father. Fujitaka stood quitely up there allowing the startling news to sink in before he invited all the guest to retire to the banquet. Eriol and Tomoyo remained in the room and strode purposefully to the throne wanting to speak to the King.  
  
They got there just as everyone else had left and Touya began protesting to his father, "You cannot abdicate the throne! You are still young and I do not think I am ready for this yet!"  
  
"Touya, you are more than ready. You have been taking care of most of this kingdom's affairs for the last year and it is about time that you inherit this throne. I am tired of ruling. Right now I want nothing more than to be allowed to spend my time in peace and quite or to look for your sister." Fuhitaka told the Prince with a tired sigh. Then turing to Eriol he told him, "I appreciate your help in finding Sakura, but I would now like to join the search for her."  
  
Eriol just nodded dumbly as Touya continued fuming and then asked Fujitaka quitely, "Why so sudden though? Couldn't you have given me some prior warning about this?"  
  
Fujitaka smile wryly at that and told his son, "I could have, but you would have just objected like you are doing now and refused to take the throne. By catching you by surprise and announcing it publicly, you have no option but to accept."  
  
Touya glared at his father for anticipating him so well. If Fujtaka had talked to him first then Touya would have refused and then fund some way out of it, but by announcing it like he did, he made it official before Touya had a say in things and before he could refuse he had to accept. Finally shaking his head sadly he asked his father, "Ae you sure? Are you sure i'm ready?"  
  
Smiling at his son's acceptance Fujitaka nodded and said, "I'm sure. You will make a wonderful king and I trust you to take care of this kingdom. If you need help ruling you will have me here to help still and is this not better to let you rle while I am still alive to offer you guidance rather than leaving the responsiblity upon your shoulders unexpectedly upon my death when you have no one to guide you?"  
  
Touya scowled but saw the logic in it and conceeded defeat. "Very well. I will take the throne, so that you can find Sakura. I know how much you miss her. I miss her too."  
  
"We all miss Sakura." Yukito who stayed by Touya's side the entire time said quietly. Eriol and Tomoyo could only nod.  
  
Finally Fujitaka broke the silence that had ensued after Yukito's statement by saying, "Thank-you, all of you for your support and help the past three months. I would like to make one final request of all of you as King. Please help Touya take care of this kingdom and I am sure that will will find Sakura. None of us should ever give up hope."  
  
"Always, Your Highness. Always." Yukito stated quietly and Tomoyo and Eriol echoed him.  
  
**********************  
  
IF YOU WANT MORE, REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW! 


	11. Heart's Treasures: Part 9

Heart's Treasures: Part 9  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
A.N. Yes, I know it's been months since I last updated. But all I can say is my life has been   
VERY busy. Besides the fact that I actually have a life with friends albeit nerdy friends, I also   
have school and a boyfriend. Within the last half a year I've gone through enough to make my   
life an official soap opera if it wasn't before. I got some college friends (as opposed to high   
school friends), went to some parties, gained a real social life. I broke up with my old bf of 4   
years who was an asshole and got together with my best friend for the last 4 years who   
incidentally has liked me for 7 years and I'm very happy with him now. I've had lost of odd   
family situations to deal with and between all that and a lack of motivation and inspiration for   
writing, I've finally finished this chapter. This is was originally going to be longer but I figured if   
I tried to end it where I originally planned to it might be several more months before I got   
anything up. So I'm posting what I have finished writing. Don't expect anymore soon. I'll write   
when I feel like writing. You just need to be patient. I mean I've waited for about five years for   
one story to be continued and it still hasn't so, six months really isn't that bad in comparison. So   
try to enjoy this chapter (and I mean really enjoy it because it might be a few more months before   
the next one) and review (I like very long detailed reviews) because if you don't review instead of   
it taking me a few months to update I might just drop the story altogether. Honestly that would   
not be a bad thing for me because that means I can focus on my life even more so if you want me   
to continue try to make me happy so I want to continue.  
  
Disclaimer: The original tale of Thousand Furs belongs to the Brother's Grimm (well sort of, but   
I'm not getting into the messy business of explaining the history of fairytales). CCS and its   
characters belong to Clamp. This story belongs to me however, so DON'T STEAL! I worked   
really hard on this and I will be pissed if anyone stole my idea or my story.  
  
*****************************  
  
Syaoran had a headache. A headache that he attributed mostly to the delegates from the Solarian   
Kingdom. He had always thought that his ministers were fodgy old men that were annoyingly   
stubborn and dense, but the Solarian delegates were ten times worse than any of his ministers had   
ever been. He had spent the last week locked in a stuffy room with them trying to reach a   
compromise in terms of an alliance. The heat of summer added to the frustration of dealing with   
the Solarian delegates had created the most monstrous headache Syaoran could ever remember   
having and that included the time he accidentally got drunk from chugging an entire bottle of   
wine when he was thirteen and woke up with a hangover. The headache he had now made the   
hangover seem like a pleasant memory.   
  
Unfortunately for everyone else, when the King got a headache he also tended to get irritable.   
Much more so than normal. Thus as a result the servants had learned to take circuitous routes   
about the castle to avoid the irritable King. It had been that way for a week, a very long week. It   
used to be the King was irritable everyday, but it was a much more manageable irritable. Then   
suddenly about two or three months ago the King started being polite and almost pleasant. It was   
a great improvement and the servants, especially the ones that had to deal with him often, were   
overjoyed by the change. No one really knew what happened but no one wanted to push their luck   
and ask either.  
  
But all that changed a week ago when the delegates from Solaria came. Truth be told, no one   
really liked them. They were for the most part, rude, arrogant, and condescending and none of the   
servants could really blame the King for his bad temper if he had to dance attendance to and try to   
negotiate with the delegates for an entire week. For the entire week Syaoran had been closeted   
with the delegates, his mother, and his ministers trying to pound out a peace agreement, but the   
Solarians were too arrogant to accept anything the Faunians were willing to offer and demanded   
more than what the Faunians would offer. So the peace talks were taking a long while to go   
absolutely nowhere and that was frustrating Syaoran to no ends. He was almost thankful that the   
Summer Solstice Ball was that night because it proved to be an opportunity for him to escape the   
heat and boredom of the counsel room, though he was exchanging it for the boredom of the   
ballroom.  
  
What Syaoran really wanted to do was to draw his sword on the arrogant Solarians and force   
them to agree to at least some points at sword point and then leave the oppressive heat of the   
council room to go in search of Sakura in the garden. The one thing Syaoran could think of to get   
rid of his bad mood and his headache was spending time with Sakura. Unfortunately Syaoran was   
fairly certain his mother would not approve of the plan seeing as how it lacked a certain elegance   
of style and just plain tact. Though he doubted she would have really minded the idea too much,   
numerous glances shot in her direction had ascertained that the Queen had as much of a headache   
as her son.  
  
It was with a sigh of relief that Syaoran finally left the council room for lunch. Since everyone   
was getting ready for the ball that night, he thankfully did not have to return to that room again   
until the next day. Syaoran immediately went to the garden hoping to find Sakura there. It had   
been a week since he last saw her and throughout his time in the council room Syaoran had   
wanted to storm out and see the gentle girl.  
  
He missed her terribly. He hadn't realized until then what a great stress reliever, Sakura's   
presence proved to be for him. Her smiles were the one thing that managed to draw him out of his   
bad moods and having not seen her for a week thanks to the Solarian delegates made Syaoran   
more irritable than he liked to imagine. He knew that it was unlikely that he would actually find   
her in the garden at that time especially since the preparations for the banquet that night were   
likely to keep her busy, but still something nagged at him telling him to go to the garden.  
  
As he entered the cherry grove the lovely sight of Sakura standing with her hair cascading down   
her back stopped him in his tracks. She stood with the large fur coat laying on the ground and her   
slender figure showing clearly through her plain gray frock. Something about the way she stood   
there stirred unfamiliar feelings in Syaoran and he suddenly felt a longing to hold her in his arms.   
Startled by his thoughts he cleared his throat causing Sakura to whirl around to face him.  
  
"Syaoran!" the girl cried happily at seeing him. Then suddenly remembering herself she curtsied   
to him and quickly snatched up her coat and wrapped it about herself once again hiding her figure   
underneath the odd coat. Her hair she tucked into the coat as well. Lowering her head humbly she   
murmured, "I thought you were busy with the Solarian delegates, My Lord."  
  
Syaoran frowned at the formality in Sakura's manner. "Syaoran. My name is Syaoran. I believe   
I've asked you to call me that before. Why all the formality Sakura? Have I upset you somehow?"  
  
Sakura blushed at the tenderness with which he talked to her. Keeping her head bowed to hide her   
blush she replied, "I'm sorry Syaoran. It's just it's been a bit since I last saw you since you've   
been so busy with the delegates and I wasn't…I wasn't sure anymore if I should be so informal   
with you."  
  
"I'm sorry I've been so busy recently." Syaoran sighed wearily as he explained, "The Solarian   
delegates are being very obstinate and I can say honestly I will have no grief when we are finally   
rid of them." He purposefully stepped forward and lifted her chin so that her glorious green eyes   
were staring directly into his and continued, "But you should not take that as a sign that you   
should start being formal with me. You are my friend, Sakura, and I hate formality among   
friends."  
  
Sakura smiled up at him reassured by his kind words and gentle manner. "Are the Solarians that   
bad?" she asked timidly.  
  
Syaoran grimaced and replied, "Worse! They are the most arrogant, stubborn, ill-mannered   
people I have ever met! And for me to be saying that means a lot! Even I realize I can be rather   
unpleasant to be around on occasion but these delegates are even worse than me!"  
  
Sakura stifled a giggle at Syaoran's outburst and said sweetly, "You've always been kind to me."  
  
"That's because you are easy to be with and I enjoy your company. I don't know how anyone   
might be unkind to you." Syaoran told her with a soft smile. It was amazing how this slip of a girl   
could bring out the best in him. "I'm just glad that after another week they'll be gone.   
Unfortunately that's still a week away and I have to deal with going to this stupid Summer   
Solstice Ball tonight."  
  
"It couldn't be that bad. The ball tonight must be really grand. The kitchen staff has been busy   
preparing food for tonight's banquet since yesterday night." Sakura asked her eyes bright at the   
memory of the balls she had attended in Flora. She didn't really miss the balls so much as she   
missed her friends and family. The thought of her family made tears start stinging at her eyes but   
before they could fall she bit her lip and forced a smile on her face. "I wish I could see you in all   
your nice clothes for the ball."  
  
"I wish you could too. Having you at the ball might make it actually bearable." Syaoran replied as   
he thought of Sakura in a grand ball gown with her beautiful auburn hair cascading down her   
back like he had just seen her dancing in his arms. Syaoran shook the thought away knowing that   
it was an impossible wish and he should not have such feelings for Sakura. She was after all only   
a scullery maid, albeit a very pretty one, and foremost she was his friend and Syaoran knew that   
he should not have such thoughts about his friend.  
  
"I wish I could too." Sakura muttered softly when an idea came into her head. Maybe it would be   
possible for her to attend the ball after all but in the guise of her true self. The thought of dancing   
with Syaoran caused a warm flush to suffuse her and Sakura decided that if only for one night   
even if she were risking her life she wanted to dance with her gentle Syaoran. "I need to get back   
to the kitchen's now. Chiharu needs my help." Sakura said stepping away from Syaoran, her mind   
upon the evening's ball.  
  
Syaoran grabbed her hand as she was about to run away and upon an odd impulse that he couldn't   
understand nor stop kissed her hand causing her to blush and with a courtly bow said, "I eagerly a   
wait our next meeting, My Lady."  
  
The blood drained from Sakura's face as she said with a panicked voice, "I must go." She pulled   
her hand away from him and turned to run away afraid that Syaoran had somehow discovered her   
identity.  
  
Syaoran saw her face go pale and fearing that his teasing had hurt his best friend said quietly,   
"I'm sorry for that Sakura. I was only teasing. Please don't be upset with me."  
  
Sakura merely nodded before fleeing back to the kitchens. Syaoran stood and watched her go   
wondering about Sakura's odd reaction. Then as her figure ran out of sight he turned around and   
sighed heavily. It was time for him to go prepare for the ball. Though he knew no amount of   
preparation would help him deal with the fawning court ladies that his mother would be ruthlessly   
throwing at him.  
  
  
Sakura ran back into the kitchen where Chiharu greeted her cheerfully. Sakura smiled back at   
Chiharu and asked her timidly, "Chiharu?"  
  
"Yes?" The cook replied kindly.  
  
"We'll probably be finished with most of the cooking by the time the ball starts right?"  
  
"Probably. We'll probably have a few of the smaller things to cook, but otherwise we should be   
done if not when the ball starts soon after that. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Well I kind of wanted to go see the people arriving. They must look really magnificent in their   
dresses and jewels. I used to help my mistress dress up when she went to balls and she always   
looked so lovely. I thought it might be nice to see that again." Sakura told Chiharu while silently   
asking forgiveness for the white lie she had just told. But she wanted to even if it was just for one   
dance to be able to meet Syaoran as his equal. "I promise I won't be gone long. I'll be back in   
plenty of time to finish the preparations for the banquet and to help clean up."  
  
"Hmm…" Chiharu said looking Sakura over. Something in her manner told her the girl was   
not telling her the whole truth, but the request was harmless enough. Besides, the girl had stayed   
in the kitchen too long and needed a break. For the past week the entire kitchen staff had been   
kept busy with preparations for the ball and the extra load of cooking for the Solarian delegates   
was not helping any. Thus Sakura had been kept busy from morning to night cooking and had   
very little chance to rest. Chiharu knew that also meant that that kept the girl from seeing   
whoever the young man that she was infatuated with. With a kind smile Chiharu told her, "If you   
promise to be quick about it then I suppose after we finish with the preparations then you can go   
see the guests arriving for an hour."  
  
"Oh, thank-you!" Sakura exclaimed. She would have her chance to see Syaoran in all his finery   
and for the first time be her true self and not hide behind the soot and course clothing of a servant.  
  
  
"Must I wear this awful outfit?" Syaoran said in what Takashi would have called a whine if it   
wasn't for the fact that Syaoran was a king and kings did not whine.  
  
With a raised eyebrow Takashi replied, "Her Majesty insists that you look the part of a king   
tonight so she has personally picked out this suit for you. If you do not wish to wear it, Your   
Majesty, then speak to the Queen about it." Then as if as an after thought he added, "I have no   
say in the matter, though that suit does look awfully uncomfortable."  
  
Syaoran glared at his impudent servant who was grinning openly at him, Takashi being one of the   
only servants not afraid of him and one of the closest people Syaoran had to a real friend, Sakura   
not included. Though Syaoran did consider Sakura his best friend he also knew he was starting to   
have feelings for her that friends shouldn't have for one another and Sakura also did not know he   
was king.   
  
Suddenly an idea came to Syaoran as to how he could avoid the mass of crown-seeking eligible   
young women, "Takashi, this is a masquerade ball is it not?"  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty." Takashi replied suspiciously.  
  
"Then shouldn't I be wearing a costume? Say a hunter might be a good costume." Syaoran   
suggested reasonably.  
  
"Of course it would be sire, if you can get the queen to approve of it." Takashi replied.  
  
"Am I king or is my mother?" Syaoran asked crossly.  
  
"You are sire, but your mother is in charge and I will not cross her."  
  
"Do you want to be beheaded?"  
  
"I rather like my head, hence why I'm crossing you rather than Her Majesty. You won't behead   
me."  
  
"You're overconfident." Syaoran growled defeated. "Fine I'll wear this thing, just no crown. I   
refuse to wear something that would make it even more obvious who I am."  
  
"As you wish sire." Takashi replied as he continued helping his king prepare for the ball.  
  
  
"Chiharu…I'm done with my chores and the guest are arriving at the gate. May I go see them?"   
Sakura asked putting her broom down.  
  
The cook smiled at the girl and told her, "Go ahead dear. But if you could be back in a half   
hour that would be really nice."  
  
"I promise to be quick." Sakura told her eagerly as she smiled happily and ran to her room. Once   
in her room Sakura removed her coat and carefully washed her hands and face in a basin of water.   
Then moving over to the tiny chest with all her most precious possessions, she opened it and   
removed her bag and took from it the dress as silver as the moon. The dress that her best friend   
had given her on her birthday, the fateful day she had to leave everything she loved behind and   
become a poor waif. As soon as she removed the dress from the bag, it's brilliance lit up her tiny   
room. Then from the bag she removed a pair of silver slippers and a few pieces of jewelry to put   
in her hair, as well as a silver mask. Finally from the bag she removed her mother's ring. Putting   
on the ring first she prayed silently to her mother to guide her and help her find her gentle   
Syaoran. Then she donned her dress and everything else that went with it and sneaked into the   
garden.  
  
From the garden she entered the castle and walked boldly towards the ballroom. The servants   
wondering around the halls and the guards guarding the doors let her pass with no question   
assuming correctly that the beautiful lady that walked past them was a foreign princess. None of   
them guessed that she was also the scullery maid, Thousand Furs. As she approached the doors to   
the ballroom, two servants threw the doors open for her. Stepping through the doors and   
surrounded by a halo of light created by her dress, Sakura stood like the moon, beautiful and   
mysterious. All eyes in the room turned to look at the new arrival and all stood stunned by her   
overwhelming beauty. Sakura smiled happy to be able to if only for a night be her true self.  
  
  
Let me reiterate, review! Nice long reviews or emails if you want me to continue writing. As long   
as I continue getting lots of support, I'll continue writing though it might take me a long time. 


	12. Heart's Treasures: Part 10

Heart's Treasures: Part 10  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
A.N. Again, sorry it took so long, but I've been busy. I'm still not very motivated to write but  
I am trying at least. This chapter was again shorter than I had planned but I got tired of   
writing, so I decided to post what I had. I just chose a good place to end it and ended it there.   
Considering it's really only one scene it is pretty long. Looks like the Solstice Ball is going   
to be three chapters instead of just one or two. Please be patient with me because I am really   
trying. It is only thanks to people reviewing and seeming interested that I am even still writing.  
So please continue supporting me by reviewing. Remember if you don't review I have very little   
reason to continue writing. Also before I forget I'd like to thank Mediaminer.org for having   
this story has a featured fanfic. I'm very honored by the distinction. Also college is starting   
back up for me next week so I'll have even less time to write so expect the next chapter to   
take a bit (as if you didn't already). I'll be busy with school soon.   
  
Disclaimer: The original tale of Thousand Furs belongs to the Brother's Grimm (well sort of, but   
I'm not getting into the messy business of explaining the history of fairytales). CCS and its   
characters belong to Clamp. This story belongs to me however, so DON'T STEAL! I worked   
really hard on this and I will be pissed if anyone stole my idea or my story.  
  
*****************************  
  
Syaoran stood on the fringe of the ballroom trying desperately to blend in with the surrounding   
tapestry. He was garbed in a forest green outfit that consisted of tight trousers that constricted   
his movements. A white shirt that wasn't too uncomfortable except for the tie that he wore at his   
throat choking him and with so many ties, ruffles, and flounces to it that he was surprised that   
his head managed to show through it. Over it was a stiff jacket embroidered with gold thread.   
Syaoran was just thankful that he wasn't required to wear his crown with the stifling suit.  
  
The ball had only just started and guest were only just arriving but the ravenous ladies of the   
court had already started seeking him out in the hopes of snaring him for their husband thus   
ensuring for themselves a crown. Tonight was going to be a long night. Syaoran wished with all   
his heart that he could just sneak away from it all and wonder into the garden hoping to meet a   
certain emerald-eyed scullery maid. It was a foolish wish at best considering Sakura was most   
likely still busy in the kitchen, but one could always hope. And right now thinking of the girl   
and meeting her again was the only thing getting Syaoran through the ball. He looked at the   
grandfather clock a few feet to the side of him and groaned. He still had another three hours of   
the ball left. That meant he had to try and keep himself as inconspicuious as possible and also   
try to keep out of his mother's line of vision as long. The last thing Syaoran wanted was to be   
dragged to meet every single simpering courtier in the hopes that he might find one attractive   
enough to marry. The chances of that happening were fairly slim considering Syaoran had a   
preferance for females that had some amount of intelligence to them and most the court ladies   
seemed to have been bred for the pure purpose of having no mind of their own.  
  
Suddenly a commotion close to the entrance caught the young king's attention. Everyone in the ballroom had stopped short and were staring at the top of the stairs. Apparently some great beauty had entered. That did not interest Syaoran in the slightest since the courtiers were prone to exaggeration. Still he glanced to the top of the stairs to see who everyone seemed to be staring at and he too stopped dead in his tracks. The vision could not have been real for she was undeniably the most beautiful thing Syaoran had ever seen. He was sure looking at her that she was an angel of some sort. Innocence, sweetness, purity, and beauty radiated from her in waves. Her golden gown created a corona of light around her as she was framed perfectly by the rose covered entrance to the ballroom. Something about her seemed achingly familiar to Syaoran and before he knew what he was doing her had stepped away from his hiding place and was striding purposefully through the crowds to the mysterious beauty. They parted before him without a word and watched as their recitent king walked towards the moon goddess as if spellbound.  
  
At the top of the stairs Sakura stood and scanning the crowd for Syaoran. She wasn't able to see him among the crush of people present. Closing her eyes with a bit of disappointment, Sakura took a deep breath to fortify herself before she made her way down into the ballroom to search for Syaoran. She was risking her anomity to attend this ball and she would not let the night go by without having at least seen her gentle lord.  
  
Finally opening her eyes she saw the crowd parting and making way for a familiar figure. Syaoran had seen her and was coming. She smiled sadly wondering if had recognized her, despite the danger of it she wanted to hope that he would.   
  
Reaching the beauty Syaoran bowed elegantly and taking her hand kissed it gently. Finally straightening, but not releasing her hand he looked at her face and nearly started. The eyes and sad wistful smile that he had been thinking of for the past few minutes were staring at him. " Sakura..." he whispered softly and then catching himself and realizing that no matter how similar this beauty's eyes and smile were to his little scullery maid, she could not be her, he apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you that. Your eyes are just such an uncommon but lovely color and remind me of a friend of mine."  
  
Sakura's heart fluttered for a moment with what she wasn't sure when Syaoran called her Sakura, but her heart calmed when he apologized. She felt instead a sinking feeling in her heart that she could have sworn was disappointment, but brushed it away impatiently. She was here and Syaoran was with her. That was all she had wanted, to be able to see him and to let him see her. Smiling with joy over being with him, Sakura replied, "It is of no consequence, My Lord. Perhaps you might tell me about your friend that I remind you of? I am curious to hear about someone that might be so like me that I might be mistakened for her."  
  
Syaoran breathed a sigh of relief. Smiling gratefully and for once feeling comfortable at a ball with a lady, he asked rakishly (a great feat for the king that usually had no interest in anyone especially females), "Perhaps I can tell you about her while we dance? I would be honored if such a beauty would dance her first dance here with me."  
  
"I'd love to." Sakura told him as Syaoran began to lead her to the dance floor still holding her hand tightly yet gently. Sakura blushed at the possessiveness with which he seemed to hold her hand, but she didn't want to point it out to him. It felt comfortable. The warmth and pressure of his hand made her feel cared for and wanted.  
  
The crowd that had been watching the exchange eagerly parted before them as they approached the dance floor wondering what words the two had exchanged. As they reached the dance floor the orchestra struck up a waltz. Syaoran took Sakura's other hand and began to lead her in the steps as slowly other couples joined them.  
  
Up on the dias where the throne sat Yulan watched her son approach the mysterious young woman and smiled. Finally her son had shown interest in a suitable young lady. Maybe there was hopes for her son yet, Yulan just wondered who the young lady was and where she was from. For though the girl seemed a bit familiar, Yulan could have sworn that she had never seen the girl at court before. But considering the number of courtiers from other nations that visited the Faunen court, the girl was probably not of her own court. If that were the case then some diplomatic agreements might need to be made, but surely something could be worked out. Regardless, Yulan was just happy her son found a girl that met his high standards, or at least she hoped the girl did.  
  
On the dance floor Syaoran gazed at the beauty before him and again thought, "She can't be real, or at least if she is there must be something wrong with her." But try as he might he could find no fault in her. She was absolutely stunning. Her voice was beautiful like a bell, her eyes gentle and kind, and everything about her felt just right. Holding her in his arms as he danced was the most pleasant experiance Syaoran could ever remember having. But at the same time something in the back of his mind nagged him, that as lovely as this girl was Sakura was just as lovely. But the girl before him was of his station and he could hope to marry her. Sakura was merely a servant and she was also his friend. Even if he could court her, he would have been afraid of harming their friendship even though Syaoran knew that what he felt for the servant girl was more than friendship. But he had a chance here. This mysterious lady reminded him of Sakura and he felt almost as happy with her as he had with Sakura.   
  
Sakura was in heaven. The warmth of Syaoran's strong arms holding her was even better than anything she had ever imagined. She knew that it was hopeless for her to wish to be able to stay with him like this. For him to see her as something more than a pitiful waif to protect, but as she was now she was someone of his station. Someone that could hope to catch his attention romantically. But she also knew that after this dance was over she must return to how she was before. An orphaned scullery maid, with no home, and no family.   
  
That didn't matter now however. Now she was the mysterious beauty and she was dancing in the arms of the gentlest, kindest, and most handsome man at the ball. And she was happier than she had been since she left Flora. Smiling impishly she lifted her head up to gaze into his amber eyes and told him, "I believe my lord promised to tell about this friend of yours, Sakura, whom I remind you so much of."   
  
"I doubt you need to worry about being mistakened fos Sakura often." Syaoran told the girl.  
  
"Why not, especially since you did?" Sakura replied.  
  
"Sakura is a scullery maid. I doubt a noble lady like you would be mistakened for her." Syaoran replied with a hint of ice in his voice. When he first saw this beautiful girl, his heart leaped and he thought that he might have found someone he could tolerate to marry, especially since she seemed to have a good humor and she reminded him of Sakura. But as he talked to her about Sakura something else in his heart told him that no matter how he tried, Sakura would be the only one he could come to love. And knowing that and the fact that he could definitely not marry Sakura was starting to put him in a bad mood.  
  
Sakura detected the ice in his voice and looked worriedly at him, "Is there something amiss , my lord? Perhaps something wrong with this Sakura of yours? Though I do hope not for she must be a really wonderful person for you to befriend her even though she is a scullery maid or perhaps it is only you that are such a wonderful person."  
  
"No my lady. I'm sorry to have been snappish." Smiling softly as he pictured the girl as he had seen her earlier with her hair down in the soft morning light, Syaoran told the lady, "Sakura is a very sweet, gentle person. Before she came along I was always bad tempered and hard to get along with but Sakura has a very calming effect on me. She is surprisingly intelligent and well educated which I still don't know how since even most of the royal ladies of this court not to mention a servant are no where near as well educated."  
  
"Are the ladies of this court so horrible then?" Sakura asked amused knowing full well Syaoran's answer before asking the question.  
  
"They are for the most part mindless twits. No offense to you, but you seem very different from them and I'll wager you are a foreigner. Your accent reminds me of Sakura's, but the reason I called you by her name earlier was because you have the same eyes as her." Syaoran told the girl frankly. This girl was surprising him in many ways. If it wasn't for the impossibility of it all he could have sworn she was Sakura. Her manner of speech was the same and she was so unlike most court ladies. She truly cared about what he was saying and wasn't just interested in talking about herself. In fact she even seemed to be avoiding talking about herself. And her eyes...could two different people have such similar eyes? Eyes were supposedly the windows to the soul could two different people have such similar souls?  
  
"Eyes are the windows to the soul." The lady quoted startling him with how she had just voiced his thoughts. He looked at her to find her smiling softly. He wished her could take the demi-mask off of her face to see what it looked like underneath. To be sure he could tell she was absolutely beautiful but he wondered would she look like Sakura's twin for everything else about her made her seem just like the servant girl that always stayed in his thoughts.  
  
Sakura saw the reaction her statement evoked in him and partially regretted it realizing that she could have given her identity away right there. Syaoran suspected something was up. She was sure of that considering how he kept comparing her to her alter ego. But at the same time she wanted to be discovered, but she didn't dare reveal herself still. She didn't know what was going on in the world and it was too risky for how could she be sure Syaoran could protect her or if he would even try if he knew who she was and that she had decieved him. Syaoran's question to her made her face go pale and she was thankful for the demi-mask that concealed her features.   
  
"Can two people have the same soul then?" Syaoran asked the girl.  
  
Sakura forced a smile to her lips and tried to reply lightly, "I think they could. Especially if they were soulmates or something. Why do you ask my lord?"  
  
"I'm just curious about your opinion. You are a romantic aren't you?" Syaoran observed.  
  
"I suppose I am. Are you?" Sakura replied lightly. She needed to keep the conversation light and steer it away from herself because as much as she was enjoying being in Syaoran's arms, things were getting dangerous.  
  
"I guess I am because I want to agree with you." Syaoran replied. He heard in the background the music starting to die away and knew that the strange but certainly not disagreeable dance was coming to an end. He was no closer to knowing anything more about this lady than when he started but something about her felt right. Maybe not as right as it felt with Sakura, but with time maybe he could come to feel as right with her as he felt with Sakura, but maybe it was just due to the circumstances. At the very least Syaoran was determined to give it a try, because if he had to marry, he wanted to marry someone he could love. And if it couldn't be Sakura, it could be someone that was so much like her they could have been the same person. But still he wondered if it was fair for any of them.  
  
The music winded down and died with a soft strum of a lute. The couples pulled apart and the men bowed to the ladies as the ladies curtsied to the men. Syaoran and Sakura pulled unwillingly apart and followed suit. Knowing that he night of magic was over, Sakura smiled saddly at Syaoran saying, "I enjoyed our dance my lord."  
  
"As have I. Do you think you might spare me another dance with you later?" Syaoran asked still feeling her warmth in his arms.  
  
"Perhaps." Sakura replied evasively knowing that it was impossible. She smiled at him once more before turning to leave.  
  
Syaoran caught her arm as she was turning around and Sakura looked at him startled. "I never caught your name." Syaoran told her blushing red. He knew it was just an excuse but he wanted to touch her once more even if it was just for a little bit and even if it was a tad improper, but he was the king. He could surely break a few rules of etiquitte.  
  
Sakura smiled and told him, "You can call me Ying Fa." before slipping her arm out of his grasp and escaping quickly through the crowds.  
  
Syaoran watched her slip through the crowd murmuring her name under his breath, "Ying Fa...that means cherry blossom in the old Faunen language, as did Sakura in the old Florian language." Syaoran's eyes widened and he pulled himself out of his thoughts just in time to see the mysterious lady slip out the heavy oak entrance doors. He pushed his way through the crowds and got to the door. When he stepped out into the hallway he saw no one. He walked quickly to the castle entrance and questioned the guards there about the angel he had danced with but none of them remembered anyone of her description entering or leaving. With a puzzled frown Syaoran walked back to the ballroom resigned to trying to hide from fawning courtiers, wondering if the last half hour or so had been a dream.  
  
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Again if you want me to continue, REVIEW! I like nice long detailed reviews. Tell me what you liked or didn't like. I know some of the grammar and spelling might be bad, but please forgive me. My computer crashed due to viruses and I'm writing using Wordpad. Not Microsoft Word or anything with a spell or grammar check, but plan old standard Wordpad. IT's a real pain and it's just one of the reason's I've not been writing much. Not the only or biggest, but certainly one of them at least. 


	13. Heart's Treasures: Part 11

Heart's Treasures: Part 11  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
A.N. Feel free to throw fits of hysterical disbelief since I don't quite believe it myself. This is indeed a new chapter to my story. I'm sorry things are coming out so slow, but I am really trying, but I am very busy usually and I don't always have the inclination to write. I will admit though reviews do help because they tell me people do enjoy the story and I should continue rather than give up on the story altogether. This chapter will finally end the Solstice Ball. The story is far from over though. There is still two more balls left. S please enjoy this chapter and review. Again sorry for any mistakes in the story, but I'm not perfect and I have no grammar and spellcheck either. Wordpad sucks.  
Disclaimer: The original tale of Thousand Furs belongs to the Brother's Grimm (well sort of, but   
I'm not getting into the messy business of explaining the history of fairytales). CCS and its   
characters belong to Clamp. This story belongs to me however, so DON'T STEAL! I worked   
really hard on this and I will be pissed if anyone stole my idea or my story.  
  
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"You can call me Ying Fa." Sakura told Syaoran. She didn't know why she told him that name. She knew it was too dangerously close to her own real name, but maybe that was why. Sakura was tired of just being Thousand Furs. If for this one night she was going to be herself then she wanted to truely be herself name and all. The meaning of the names were the same even if the language they were in was different. And truth be told Sakura couldn't deny that she almost wanted to be discovered. Maybe Syaoran could help her, but she couldn't risk her identiy if he wouldn't or couldn't help her.  
  
She pulled her arm away from his and quickly weaved through the crowd of people that were leaving the dance floor seeking refreshment. Quickly before Syaoran could catch her she rushed through the ballroom and up the stairs. With a sigh of relief she passed through the heavy rose covered oak entrances to the ballroom. The guards posted at the door bowed to her and gave her curious looks as she passed by. She slowed her pace as not to arouse the guards' suspicions. Once she rounded the corner though and saw no one about she rushed through the halls, through the gardens and back to her tiny room. Looking at the tiny clock on her table illuminated by the silvery glow of her gown, Sakura saw that she had made it back just in time to help Chiharu with the last of the banquet preparations.  
  
Still dreaming of being in Syaoran's arms and knowing it would be one of the few memories that she could charish knowing the impossibility of being with him, Sakura sadly stripped off her gown. She looked mournfully at the gown remembering her sweet, delicate cousin that had made it for her. "Tonight was very much a night for memories," Sakura thought sadly. She then began removing all her jewelry and finally the demi-mask that covered her wistful face. Her mother's ring that she had been wearing glinted at her from the folds of the dress where she laid it. Looking at it a tear escaped her eyes and sobbed softly, "Oh mama. I miss all of you so much."  
  
Shaking her head a bit, Sakura impatiently wiped away the lone tear that had escaped and told herseldf sternly. "Tomoyo, Touya, and Yukito, worked hard to let you escape. Someday you'll be with them again, but until then you need to stop crying. Be strong Sakura!" With that little pep talk to herself done Sakura lifted her head defiantly and then resumed her costume. She put on one of the dresses that Chiharu had given her, covered up her hands and face with soot, bound up her hair in a scrap of cloth, and finally put on her trademark coat. Then she began to put up all evidence of Princess Sakura or Ying Fa as she told Syaoran.  
  
Kerberus watched in facination as Sakura changed out of the glowing silvery dress. He wondered why his friend would want to hide herself away and wear those duller dresses. The other was much more fun to look at, but as always he just watched over her like always. As she started putting away the pretty shiny things she had been wearing in her hair and on her fingers he noticed a shiny gold thing that she seemed to look at with more love than all the other shiny things. It seemed to cause her some pain though because looking at it caused her to cry. She started talking to herself for a bit then she picked up the dress and began to fold it up and put it away in a sweet smelling chest.  
  
When she picked up the dress though, Kerberus noticed the gold circle she had been looking at earlier fall out of the folds of the dress and roll beneath her tiny bed. Hoping down from his perch ontop of the bed he went after the little gold ring. His bright eyes spotted the ring glinting in a corner almost immediately and he grabbed the ring with his mouth and hopped out to find Sakura to return it to her.  
  
After having hidden away all traces of her activities for the past hour, Sakura rusehed out of her room and back into the kitchens where a smiling Chiharu greeted her, "There you are Thousand Furs. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come back to us."  
  
"I'm sorry. Did I take longer than I was supposed to?" Sakura asked contritely hoping she had not caused the cook undue amounts of trouble.  
  
"No, nothing like that. Though I was wondering, do you know any good recipes for soups?" Chiharu asked the girl.  
  
"I know how to cook a little. I think I can make a soup if you need me to." Sakura replied carefully. She had been taught how to cook a few rudimentary things by the Florian castle's cook and by Lord Yukito.  
  
"That's wonderful!" Chiharu exclaimed. "Would you mind terribly making the soup for tonight's banquet for me? I had wanted to catch a peek of the ball and Takashi promised me that he would find a way for me to sneak a peek at the people in all their finery."  
  
"I'd love to help." Sakura told her smiling softly knowing that Chiharu besides just wanting to see the ball was probably wanting to see Takashi as well..  
  
"Thank-you so much!" The cook said as she hugged the girl. "I'll be back in about a half hour or so. When you're making the soup be careful not to get anything in it because the nobles can be really uptight about that. If anything, even a hair, gets in it we could both get in trouble."  
  
"I understand." Sakura replied. "Enjoy yourself." She watched with quiet mirth has her friend took off her apron and rushed out of the kitchen. Finding the kitchen mostly deserted since most of the banquet's cooking had been done and everyone else seemed to have retired for a short break before the meal was to be served, Sakura ran back to her room and dug through her things until she found the little box of herbs and spices that Lord Yukito had given to her for her birthday.  
  
Having found the box she ran back to the kitchen barely noticing the little rabbit that was following close on her heels. She smiled down at Kerberus as she passed him the second time as she ran to the kitchen and told him gently, "Behave yourself Kerberus. I promise you a treat later."  
  
When she reached the kitchen again Sakura looked about for the ingredients to the soup she wanted to make. She was relieved to find that everything she needed was already set out and prepared for her including chicken stock and some boiled chicken. Putting on an apron she began to get to work chopping up the chickens into smaller pieces. After that was done she chopped up some vegetables that were conviently peeled for her and dumped them into the chicken broth. After letting the vegetables cook in the broth for a while Sakura dumped in the chickens. Then noticing the time and knowing that Chiharu and likely the rest of the kitchen staff would be back soon, Sakura put some of the herbs that Lord Yukito had given her into the soup to finish it off.  
  
Having done that she headed back to her room to put the precious herbs away. She just hoped the soup tured out well for Chiharu's sake and partly for her own because she knew Syaoran would likely be eating it. It made Sakura feel happy thinking that Syaoran would maybe enjoy eating something she cooked.  
  
Kerberus watched in fascination as Sakura ran around the kitchen preparing the soup. He didn't know exactly what she was making but it smelled good and she had promised him a treat if he behaved himself. Curious to see what she was making he hopped onto the counter and looked into the pot. Steam rose out of the pot momentarily startling the little rabbit causing him to open his mouth in surprise, and also causing the ring to fall from his mouth into the boiling soup.  
  
The little rabbit looked forlornly into the soup knowing that he had lost something that was precious to his friend but not knowing how to fix it he just sat there until Sakura came back. Seeing him standing next to her pot of soup, Sakura scooped up kerberus and chided him lightly, "What are you doing here Kerberus? You know you should stay away from the food and fires."  
  
Kerberus looked at her guiltily with his large black eyes. Sakura just smiled at him assuming the guilty look was from his guilt at being found near the pot of soup. "Oh fine. How about I give a small saucer of soup? I did promise you a treat earlier." She asked. She then set him down and found an old pewter saucer and poured some soup into it. Setting it on the ground she told him, "Now behave."  
  
Just then servants in forest green and gold livery streamed into the kitchen followed closely by Chiharu and the other rest of the kitchen staff. "Thousand Furs!" Chiharu called out to her cheerfully.  
  
"Welcome back Chiharu. Did you have fun?" Sakura asked the cook.  
  
"Yes it was wonderful! Takashi told me I missed seeing a beautiful lady come in. He told me she was wearing the prettiest dress and she was so mysterious. She was only there for one dance and then she disappeared. The king was really put out by that. For once a lady managed to catch his attention and then she just vanished. The guards had no idea where she went and the guards at the entrance didn't remember seeing anyone with her description come in either. The entire ballroom is buzzing with speculations on who she could be. You were gone when she was there, did you see her?" Chiharu babbled excitedly.  
  
"I don't think I saw her." Sakura replied truthfully, for she hadn't seen the mysterious lady. If the lady was herself then, she couldn't see her own arrival and if the lady had been someone else then Sakura had been too interested in dancing with Syaoran to notice anyone else.  
  
"Oh that is strange. Her entrance caused quite a stir, but of course the ballroom was crowded so it might have been easy to miss her especially with all those other ladies there." Chiharu said a bit disappointed because she had wanted to hear more about the lady that danced with Fauna's recitant king. Almost everyone else was afraid of the king, but Chiharu knew better than to be afraid of him. She knew the king was just a lonely young man with too much responsibility on his shoulders and too few true friends and joys in life. She knew this because of all the things Takashi had told her from his serving the young king personally.   
  
Thinking about that she glanced at Sakura. The king reminded her of her shy friend. They both seemed so lonely. Too bad Sakura was only a scullery maid and the two could never meet and if they did, their stations would keep them from being friends. Chiharu had a feeling that Sakura could ease the young king's loneliness as he could ease hers. Unfortunately she couldn't dwell on that for long because the banquet was starting up and the food needed to be served and the first thing served is usually the soup.  
  
"Is the soup ready yet?" Chiharu asked worriedly.  
  
"Yes it is. Would you like to taste it before it's served?" SAkura replied wondering what Chiharu had been thinking about before since the older girl seemed to have had a thoughtful expression on her face.  
  
"That would be nice. It smells wonderful!" Chiharu replied as see walked over to the large pot of soup and scooped a bit into a tasting dish. She sipped the soup slowly aware of how hot it was and her eyes widened in surprise. The soup was absolutely delicious. She had never tasted soup like that before. She didn't know what it was, but something in the soup made it much more savory than normal soups. Sakura had truly made a soup fit for a king.  
  
"Is it alright?" Sakura asked tenatively.  
  
"Thousand Furs, this is delicious. However did you manage to make this? There is something in here that gives it a very distinct taste that I can't even identify." Chiharu told the girl. But before Sakura could tell her, she told the girl, "Don't worry about telling me. By the look on your face I can tell it's something precious to you."  
  
Sakura was relieved Chiharu had said that because although she wanted to tell her friend how to make the soup it required special herbs that Sakura knew she could not find in Fauna. The only person she knew of that had easy access to the herbs because he grew them himself was Lord Yukito.  
  
"Enough of standing around though. Why don't you go take a breather while we start getting everything ready to be served. Once It's all served we can all rest." Chiharu told Sakura. Sakura complied and thankfully retired to her room as Chiharu began ordering everyone about and the staff began pouring her soup into elegant bowls to be served to the nobles and guests at the banquet.  
  
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Syaoran sank into his seat next to his family with relief. The ball was finally over and if he could survive the banquet without his mother bringing up the topic of marriage then he was set for the evening. He could retire to his bed once the formalities of the evening were over with and enjoy a nice relaxing bath or anything that would loosen up the tension the night had built up in him.   
  
He felt he deserved it after Ying Fa, if that was the mysterious girl's real name and he doubted that it actually was, disappeared. She was the one bright spot of the entire evening although her disappearance left Syaoran worse off than he was before. He had managed to hide behind his mask and in the shadows fairly efficiently before she had arrived, but she pulled him out of hiding so that the ldies of court could lay siege to him. But Syaoran could not bring himself to resent her for that for in her he found the first person other than Sakura that he could truly talk to. There was definitely potential for him to develop deeper feelings for the girl, which he hoped he would if he could ever find her again, because Syaoran knew no matter how much he fought his mother over the issue, he did need to find a bride.   
  
Sakura would have been his ideal choice but he wasn't sure whether he felt for him that way. And if she did it, then that was for the worse because the match would have been impossible. Sakura as sweet and lovely as she was, was still only a scullery maid and he had to marry someone of his own station. Or did he? Afterall he was king, couldn't he just promote her to the rank of a lady and marry her? But that hinged on his mother allowing the match and even Syaoran knew that even had he his mother's backing, once Sakura became his queen she would still be looked down upon by the court, and Syaoran could not stand the thought of the gentle girl being mistreated. Because Syaoran had a hunch that the hurt Sakura would recieve would be a mental and emotional one rather than physical, and that type would be the lasting type.  
  
For Syaoran it was a no win situation. He couldn't have Sakura, but maybe he could have Ying Fa who was so much like Sakura it was scary. But Ying Fa had disappeared without a trace like some phantom. Had so many people not seen her and had she not felt so alive in his arms, Syaoran would have sworn she was a phantom or merely a dream.  
  
He sighed tiredly and looked down at the bowl of soup that had been placed in front of him by one of the green clad servants. The smells eminating from it were heavenly. It was defintely not the normal type of soup he knew the cook was prone to make. The smell relaxed and refreshed him a bit and he felt that possibly he could survive the evening. He dipped into the bowl with a silver spoon and tasted the soup. It tasted as wonderful as it smeeled and he wondered vaguely what was in it. Before he knew it he reached the bottom of his bowl and to his surprise saw a small gold ring resting at the bottom of it.  
  
Carefully removing the small ring he placed it on his napkin and cleaned it off. Picking the ring up, Syaoran examined it. There was something familiar about the ring, but he couldn't think of where he had seen it before. Suddenly a memory from earlier in the evening flashed through his mind. Syaoran was bending down to kiss the hand of the mysterious angel that had appeared at the ball. The ring was the same one that Ying Fa was wearing. Syaoran was sure of it. The ring seemed to valuable and unique to be something that was easily come by. hOw in the world did the ring get into his soup he wondered. No one had noticed Syaoran's activites as they were all caught up into talking with various people.   
  
Turning to his mother, Syaoran asked her softly, "May I be excused for a few minutes. I need a breather from all this activity."  
  
Yulan looked at her son suspiciously but nodded her head. She watched as he quietly exited the room seemingly clutching something to his chest. She idly wondered what it was, but her son had been acting very reserved since the one girl he had asked to dance with had mysteriously disappeared. Yulan wondered who the girl was. There was something very familiar about her, but Yulan could not place where she had seen her before. She had held so much hope for her son when the girl appeared, but her hopes seemed not ready to come to fruitation. She would question the guards herself tomorrow. Tonight there were too many guests including the Solarian delegates for her to excuse herself to do so.  
  
In the hall, Syaoran found a servant and instructed him to go to the kitchen and bring the cook to him. The servant quickly complied, seeing the brooding look on his king's face. Running into the kitchen, the serving man found Chiharu and started yelling at her, "Cook! Cook! Cook!"  
  
"What is it?" Chiharu asked crossly. She didn't like being yelled at by her title like that.  
  
"The king wishes to see you immediately." The servant replied.  
  
"What about? Is something wrong with the food?" Chiharu asked worriedly.  
  
"I don't know. He just asked to see you immediately though nothing but the soup has been served."   
  
"Alright, take me to him then." Chiharu said. The soup, it was the soup Thousand Furs had made. Had something dropped into the soup and the king found it. Maybe a hair or something like that. Chiharu hoped that there would not be too much trouble over it. Whatever the case was she knew she had to try to protect Thousand Furs from the consequences of it. Although the girl was the one that cooked the soup, Chiharu was the one that asked her to and the one that approved it for serving.  
  
"Who made the soup?" Syaoran demanded to know as soon as he saw Chiharu running up. He tried not to seem to menacing since he knew Chiharu was Sakura's friend and Takashi's girlfriend. Though seeing the way the girl winced he didn't think he did a good job of it.   
  
Syaoran's mind was churning with so much confusion and questions he wanted answers to. Who was Ying Fa? What was she doing at the ball? Why did she disappear so suddenly and how did her ring get into his soup. There was something going on that Syaoran knew nothing of and he didn't like it.  
  
"I made it." Chiharu tried to claim.  
  
Syaoran glared at her, "Please don't lie to me Chiharu. I know I seem like an ogre right now, but I want some straight answers. This has not been an easy evening for me and I'm sure Takashi has told you all about it since I saw him with you earlier." Chiharu blushed at that. Syaoran gentled his look and tone. Sakura had done wonders in teaching him to be able to do that. "Don't worry. Whoever you are trying to protect, I just want to ask that person a few questions. The soup was delicious and no offense to you nothing like what you usually make. Your soups are wonderful but this one was unique in it's small and flavor."  
  
"Thousand Furs made the soup." Chiharu finally admitted noticing the change in the king's demeanor.  
  
"Thousand Furs?" Syaoran asked amazed. Sakura had made the soup? The night just got more mysterious. Knowing that brought up more questions than it answered. "Could you bring her to me please and quickly since I need to go back in ther soon." Syaoran asked motioning towards the banquet hall. "Also don't tell her the kIng wants to see her. Just say Lord Li wants to see her. I don't want to scare her more than I have to."  
  
Chiharu nodded and complied though she felt that the king was hiding something. Why did he seem so surprised about Thousand Furs having made the soup. Did he know the girl? How could he? Then Chiharu remembered how Takashi said that it was the king that had found her and suggested they take her in. It was amazing that he still remembered the girl, but Thousand Furs seemed to have that effect on people.  
  
Entering the kitchen, Chiharu found Thousand Furs sweeping the floors. "Leave off of that for now, Thousand Furs. Lord Li wishes to see you about the soup, I think."  
  
"Lord Li?" Sakura asked timidly. "Who is he?"  
  
"A very high standing lord. Don't worry. Everything will be alright. He just wants to ask you some questions. Maybe he wants to know how you made the soup." Chiharu tried to reassure the girl, since she didn't know herself what the king wanted to know.  
  
"Alright." Sakura replied putting down the broom. She hoped that she hadn't gotten Chiharu into trouble because of the soup. She couldn't think of why she was being summoned by a lord. The servant that had led Chiharu to Syaoran also led Sakura there.  
  
Seeing Syaoran waiting for her, startled Sakura a bit. He looked as handsome as he always had. "You wished to see me, my lord?" Sakura asked keeping her face down while curtying politely.  
  
"Yes. I found this ring in my soup. You were the one who made the soup, so maybe you know how it got there." Syaoran said gently not wanting to frighten his only true friend.  
  
Sakura looked at the ring Syaoran was holding in his hand and had to bite her lip from yelling out in surprise. It was her mother's ring. How did it get into the soup? She could have sworn it was tucked away safely with her dress in her room. Not daring to look at him for fear he could see the longing for the ring in her eyes Sakura replied, "I don't know how that got there, sire."  
  
"I see." Syaoran answered. He heard the confusion in Sakura's voice and knew she wasn't lying, but he felt like she was still hiding something from him. Suddenly in frustration he voiced his thoughts, "Who are you Thousand Furs? What are you really doing here?"   
  
He immediately regretted his words as Sakura looked up at him with eyes begging him not to ask her anymore and answered him, "I am but a poor orphan without home or family."  
  
Syaoran wanted to kick himself for the how insensitive he had been. Though more questions had appeared than had been answered, he let the girl go back. He couldn't bring himself to cause pain to Sakura and his question had reminded himself and Sakura of the sad events that had brought her there in the first place. He probably should have told her her kingdom was safe and offered to help her go back there to find out the fate of her friends and family, but he didn't want to lose her. He reasoned that if they were dead then, it would hurt her more to know for certain.  
  
With a sigh, Syaoran returned to the banquet hoping that nothing else odd would hapen that night. He had more mysteries than he cared for. Once all the meetings with the Solarian delegates were finished he would try to apologize to Sakura for how he had behaved earlier. He hoped that the week before that would give time for the hurt the memories he had accidentally brought up to heal slightly.  
  
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Review! Please review. I won't know what you think otherwise and I have low self-confidence when it comes to my writing. If you don't tell me you want me to continue then, I'll assume you don't like it and I won't continue. I like nice detailed reviews too. If you already read this and noticed the mistake in Chiharu's name cha;k it up to me thinking about my Spirited Away fic. 


	14. Heart's Treasures: Part 12

Heart's Treasures: Part 12  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
A.N. Sorry this took so long but I am generally busy with college, my boyfriend, and my friends. I don't have much free time and what free time I do have, I generally don't like using it for writing. I'm still not very motivated, but I am trying to finish at least this story no matter how slowly. Please be patient and of course review. Reviews are all that keeps me from dropping this story altogether. I don't want to disappoint the nice people that have been encouraging me so I've worked on this slowly but surely. I am really sorry that it takes me so long but I don't write unless I feel like it. This chapter was meant to be longer, but as usual I got tired of writing and decided it's been too long since I updated.  
  
Disclaimer: CCS does not belong to me, yadda, yadda, yadda. It belongs to the wonderful ladies of Clamp. I'm just borrowing the characters. The story however is an original re-telling of the Grimm's fairy tale of Thousand Furs. Therefore this story is mine. Steal and I'll send my rabid fans and my platoon of geeky but wonderful friends after you.  
  
Syaoran sighed with relief as he watched the Solarian delegates being carried away by their gilded carriages. Not much had been accomplished by their visit but at the very least a tentative alliance reached through various compromises mainly from the Faunians had at least been achieved. Although the Solarians had refused to commit troops should the Fuanians need assistance if the Noctrus Kingdom ever attack, they did however agree not to join the Nocturians and agreed to provide aid in the form of supplies to the Fuanians. In return the Fuanians had agreed to about the same thing though they also were forced to agree to allow Solarian missionaries free movement through their kingdom to convert their subjects to the fanatical sun worship. At the very least the sun worship was fairly orthodox and did not involve any paganistic rituals.  
  
Now that was over with though, Syaoran knew he had to deal with the problem of Sakura. The girl was hiding something from him. He was absolutely sure of that, but how could he pressure her into telling him without risking his friendship with her. Syaoran loved Sakura too much to lose her to curiosity. He just wanted her to be happy, but although she usually seemed content she seemed never to be truly happy. There was always a sadness lurking in the young girl's brilliant green eyes, and Syaoran was positive it had something to do with whatever she was hiding from him.  
  
But to get her to talk about it would probably force her to talk about her past. Syaoran wasn't sure he could bear seeing the open pain on her face whenever Sakura thought about her past. He knew whatever had happened to Sakura prior to her coming to Fauna, it was something that had hurt the girl deeply. He couldn't make her tell him everything. Sakura had been guarding whatever secret she had been hiding too carefully to just openly tell him or to let him force her into telling him. Syaoran would just have to wait. He had hoped he had gained her trust but maybe trust and friendship weren't enough.  
  
Truth be told friendship was no longer what Syaoran felt for Sakura. He knew that for a fact. What he felt for the girl was a deep connection that he was sure was love, though having never been in love before, Syaoran did not know what to do about it. The fact that Sakura was a mere scullery maid made the situation more complicated. As King, Syaoran was technically allowed to do as he wished i.e. he could marry whomever he wished. In reality, tradition and social dictates made it so that he could really only marry a member of the nobility. Which made Sakura an impossible person for him to be in love with. Ying Fa would have been much more suitable for him. Too bad she had disappeared as mysteriously as she had appeared. His only proof that she had existed was the numerous witnesses and the ring.  
  
Why did the girls he actually liked and could develop feelings for all be so impossible, Syaoran wondered idly. Both girls had to also have the same pair of eyes too. Deep green, full of life and love, but touched with sadness. It was enough to drive a young man insane. If only he could get to the bottom of either of the mystery surround the two girls, Syaoran was sure he could be happy, though he had a nagging suspicion that he could only be truly happy with Sakura, despite Ying Fa.  
  
As his thoughts wondered around in circles his body had traced the familiar garden paths that led to the cherry grove where he normally met Sakura. When he finally realized where he was he looked about him searching for the slight girl. She was nowhere to be seen and disappointment bowed his head. He hoped that the events occurring after the ball had not made Sakura wary of meeting him in the garden.  
  
Syaoran sat down next to one of the larger trees and leaned back resting against it. He looked up at the trees noting their brilliant green leaves that reminded him so much of Sakura's eyes. Sunlight streamed through the leaves leaving bright splotches all over the shadowed ground. He closed his eyes and thought some more. His feelings for Sakura were highly inappropriate considering his station and hers, and he knew that before his feelings for her got any stronger that he should cut off all contact with her, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. She was his one comfort. She was the only one seemingly able to make him relax and be himself. Most of all she was the only one who appreciated him for himself.  
  
It had been a tiring month and Syaoran was exhausted. With his eyes closed and pleasant thoughts of Sakura filling his head, the Faunian king dozed off. An arrogant man's voice jolted him back into conscience-ness. He recognized the voice and grimaced. It was the voice of Baron Cander, a handsome, but annoyingly arrogant, and vain young nobleman that had been unsuccessfully pursuing one of Syaoran's older sisters in hopes of attaining a better title and more wealth for himself. Syaoran's older sister Fanren luckily had better sense than she appeared to have, and repeatedly refused the young lord. Syaoran was a bit surprised by that because the baron's blond hair and blue eyes were precisely what his sister liked.  
  
Sighing tiredly, Syaoran got up from where he was sitting and went in search of the grating voice to give the man a stinging set-down for having disturbed Syaoran's nap. He idly wondered what the cad was doing in his garden. Normally the gardens were empty of everyone but gardeners during the day. It was at night when couples seeking beautiful scenery and privacy during a banquet or ball that the gardens tended to become a popular place. Most nobles were usually too busy sleeping at this time of day to be in the gardens.  
  
When he finally managed to trace the source of the voice, the sight before him caused, Syaoran to see red. Murder was the first thing that popped into his mind, however he restrained himself- just barely, but he did. It wouldn't do to kill a nobleman no matter how much the fiend may deserve it. In a tightly controlled authoritative voice, Syaoran commanded, "Let. Her. Go."  
  
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It had been a week since Sakura had last seen Syaoran. The memory of dancing with him carried her through the days of drudgery bringing warmth to her as she could feel his arms wrapped protectively around her as they danced. It was a wonderful experience though the knowledge that she lost her mother's ring marred the memory slightly. But Sakura refused to regret the evening. It was too wonderful to regret and so far her identity had not yet been revealed so she concluded that overall the experience had been worth one it. She replaced one of the treasures her heart treasured most with another one. It was a fair trade. Besides, Syaoran now had her mother's ring. Maybe one day she could get him to give it back to her.  
  
Breakfast had been served and Sakura was free for about an hour before she had to return to the kitchens. She traveled the well known route to the cherry grove that she usually met Syaoran in. The Solarian delegates had just left earlier that morning so the emerald-eyed maid had hopes of seeing Syaoran again. It had been a while since he had been free and Sakura was eager to resume their aborted lessons, though Sakura knew that the lessons were just an excuse. Sakura just wanted to see his beloved face not to say she didn't enjoy learning about animals and teaching him about plants. But it was more than just that. She enjoyed talking to him and being with him. He was always so kind and understanding towards her and Sakura knew that she loved him. Syaoran made her feel safe, warm, and secure- a feeling she didn't think she could ever have felt again after the night of her disastrous birthday.  
  
As she wound her way through the rose gardens a harsh male voice stopped her. "Wha'da we have 'ere?" the voice slurred. Sakura whirled around to see a young nobleman with tousled blond hair and bleary blue eyes leering at her. The young man's elegant clothes were rumpled and there was a drunken sway to the nobleman's manner.  
  
"I...I...I was just going to visit the cherry grove, my lord." Sakura stuttered nervously. She didn't like the man's eyes roved over her. It somehow made her feel dirtier than all the sot and dirt that she hid under ever did.  
  
"Wha' arr' ya' doin' here in the first place gerl? Don'cha know tha' this gardun is re...restrict...restricted to servants. Only nobila'ty and such can come here." the drunken nobleman demand pompously moving closer to Sakura.   
  
Sakura began backing away from him until she felt the thorns from the large rose bushes pressing into the exposed portions of her neck and even then, she was reluctant to stop. "I was given permission to come here..." Sakura said hesitantly sure he would not believe her.  
  
Sakura was right. The young man started advancing on her and sneered with contempt. "How'd a lil' scur..scur'rury maid like you get permission to come 'ere. Only the damn snobby royal family can give someone permission." The reek of alcohol coming from the nobleman as he got closer was overwhelming. Sakura wanted to gag.  
  
"I'll leave now, my lord." Sakura said quickly trying to take the chance to escape. She tried to turn and run away. The young lord's hand shot out and grabbed her, jerking her back roughly.  
  
"Not so fast missy." The lord commanded squeezing her arm painfully. "You need some punishing." Sakura's eyes widened with fright as the young nobleman looked her rudely up and down. A menacing gleam came to his eyes as he leered pervertedly at her. "Yer' a bit dirty, but I don't mind. This won't be much of punishment getting attention from a handsome young lord like me, but I'm feeling kind of down since that bitch of a princess turned me down, so you'll do."  
  
Trying to keep the tears of pain and fright from escaping her eyes Sakura pleaded with the young man once again, "Please...let me lea..." Before she could finish her sentence, the drunk nobleman jerked her roughly forward and pressed his body to her and crushed her mouth violently with his. His arms trapped the arm that was not imprisoned by him already by her side. The stench of alcohol coming from him was overwhelming and Sakura felt light-headed from it. The pain of the drunk's grip and his mouth crushing her however brought to her in full force the dire situation she was in. If she could not extract herself from him, Sakura was sure she was going to be raped. She struggled against him, but the young man just tightened his grip on her and seemed to enjoy her struggles.  
  
In a desperate attempt to get him to release her Sakura screwed up her courage and strength and quickly lifted her leg up and kneed him as hard as she could in the groin. Sakura had never been told why it hurt men so much to be kneed there, but Eriol had once told her that if she ever got into a situation like this that doing so would cause the man hurting her a great deal of pain. Eriol was apparently right. With a shriek of pain the nobleman released her and crumbled to the ground.  
  
Seeing her chance to escape Sakura started running back to the kitchens. Suddenly she felt someone grab her arm again and jerk her roughly around. "NO!" Sakura tried to shout but the enraged man's hand clamped over her mouth.  
  
"You little bitch! How dare you do that to a peer of the realm!" The man demanded as he moved the hand from her mouth only to pull it back and slap her viciously across the face. It was the first time anyone had ever hit Sakura and the blow stunned her a bit, but she quickly was released from her paralysis when the nobleman started to violently pull her fur coat off of her revealing her slight form underneath.  
  
Sakura shivered from the frightful look in the man's eyes as he assessed her. "Yer' not bad looking wench. I'm going to enjoy this a lot." Shaking violently Sakura again tried to struggle away. The man was too strong and this time as he trapped her he was sure to trap her legs as well preventing Sakura from giving a repeat performance of her earlier trick.  
  
The hand that had been used to slap her was now groping her body making Sakura feel sick and filthier than all the dust and ashes that she normally hid herself under ever did. Since one of her hands was free she pounded on the man's chest as hard as she could but to no avail. Her mouth trapped by his couldn't scream for help and Sakura was sure this time she was doomed.   
  
Suddenly she heard a blessedly familiar voice command in the harshest tone she had ever heard from him, "Let. Her. Go." The drunken nobleman released her immediately. He looked up at her savior, her Syaoran with fear etched over his face and Sakura felt a rush of relief wash over her body.  
  
"Your...your...majesty!" The nobleman exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!?"  
  
"I should ask you the same." Syaoran said in a tightly controlled voice colder than the coldest winter wind.  
  
Sakura was sure she heard wrong. The nobleman did not just call Syaoran "Your majesty" because if he did that meant Syaoran was the Faunian King. Everything was just surreal. Sakura felt her knees giving away. She started feeling dizzy and felt herself falling but couldn't stop it from happening. Relief and amazement had overwhelmed her and Sakura knew she was going to faint, but try as she might she couldn't stop it.  
  
Syaoran had been glaring at the offending baron when a movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned just in time to see Sakura swoon. Faster than he knew he could move, Syaoran was by the girl's side and catching her. Holding her tenderly in his arms Syaoran felt much of his tension begin to drain away until he thought of what had probably made her swoon. Looking up at the nobleman again Syaoran glared menacingly, "If I were you, my lord, I would find something to do in another kingdom for a long time. If I ever see you around here again or hear about you assaulting any innocent young girl again, you will find yourself unable to ever produce an heir."  
  
The man's face blanched visibly and he nodded his understanding as he bowed and fled from the gardens no doubt to do as Syaoran had suggested.  
  
Picking Sakura's fur coat up from the ground, Syaoran placed it gently over her and picked the girl up. He was surprised at how light she was. It was true that she was very tiny and slim, but he had never imagined her to be as light as she was. Sakura slept on completely unaware. Syaoran smiled down at her and kissed her softly and lovingly on the forehead. He knew for sure now. He was in love with this slip of a girl, but what could he do about it? He couldn't marry her without breaking so many social taboos that the kingdom would be a buzz with it for his entire reign and probably his heir's reign too. Sakura would never be accepted either and she would constantly be cut down and insulted and Syaoran would not let that happen to her. He couldn't just let her stay a scullery maid either. Other noblemen like Baron Cander might see her just as a servant and Sakura might be in similar danger again. He couldn't stand to see her sweet innocence ripped from her like that and he knew that he would kill any man that did that to her.  
  
Syaoran carried her into the kitchens and heard many exclamations of surprise from the servants as he passed through trying to find Chihiru. He knew the head chef was Takashi's beloved and Sakura's friend. She would show him where to take Sakura.   
  
When he finally found the cook, Chihiru looked at him with shock, "Your majesty!" she exclaimed and then saw Sakura in his arms. "What happened to Thousand Furs? Is she alright? How come you are carrying her?"  
  
"Can you tell me where her room is so I can take her there?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"Follow me." Chihiru told him. A sinking feeling was coming into Chihiru's heart. She hoped that the young man Sakura had been meeting was not the king but she was certain she was wrong. Though his aquaintance with the gentle young girl would certainly explain the young king's change in manners in the past few months, Chihiru feared for her friend's heart. She knew that Thousand Furs was in love with whoever she had been meeting and if she was in love with the king than her heart was bound to be broken.  
  
She led the king into Sakura's small room and could see the disapproval on the young king's face. He took the girl over to the bed and placed her gently on it, tenderly brushing a stray hair from her face. The look on the king's face made Chihiru hope for a second that the king also loved her friend, but then reality reasserted itself and Chihiru knew that even if he did, he still couldn't marry a scullery maid. "What happened to her?" Chihiru asked tenatively.  
  
The king's face darkened, "A drunk nobleman tried to abuse her. I got there just in time to save her."  
  
Rage filled Chihiru's face as she asked in a hard voice, "Who was it? I'll slip some unpleasant purgative powder into his food and make sure he regrets this."  
  
A smile twitched at Syaoran's lips and he answered. "Lord Cander. If you do that, I'll reward to handsomely. He's an ass of the worst sort and though I dealt with him already giving him some added discomfort on his unofficial exile might be nice as well."  
  
"I'll see to it immediately." Chihiru told the king smiling at him. "I can take care of Thousand Furs if your majesty would like to return to his duties."  
  
"Actually, I'd like to be here when Sakura wakes up. Could you get someone to bring in a chair for me? I'll watch over her. Also tell Takashi to inform my mother, I might not attend my duties this afternoon. Tell him he can make up whatever wild story he wants." Syaoran requested as he sat down on the edge of the bed and gazed lovingly at Sakura trying to devise a solution to the problem of keeping her safe from unwanted attentions.  
  
"As you wish, your majesty." Chihiru curtsied and left the room certain that the king loved her friend. She prayed for both the gentle people in the tiny room's happiness. They both deserved happiness especially with each other and Chihiru hoped that fate would be kind enough to find a way for them to be happy. 


	15. Heart's Treasures: Part 13

Heart's Treasures: Chapter 13  
  
By: Starlight Rose  
  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
A.N. Thanks to the overwhelming show of support from everyone for the plagiarism deal I finished writing the last three pages of this story today. The past month has not been an easy time for me and I was starting to feel very down over various real life matters and the plagiarism did not help my mood much. Seeing the support everyone was showing me and the love people have for this story gave me enough inspiration to finish this story faster though I wonder if part of that was because the last few pages are mostly dialogue and I am comfortable with writing dialogue. no matter what the reason is this chapter is now done and the cliff-hanger resolved. To everyone that supported me, my sincerest heart-felt thanks to you all. You are the reason I keep at this story. I will probably still retire after this story except for occasional one-shots that my fingers itch to write, but I promise no matter what else goes on in my life and no matter how long it takes I will finish this story as long as people continue to want to read it. Please enjoy the chapter and as always review because if you don't review how can I know if you want me to continue or know if I'm still doing things right and nothing's changed despite the six months hiatus. I still love long in-depth reviews. Tell me what you like and don't like and I'll keep it in mind and consider it when I next write.  
  
Disclaimer: Clamp, Kodansha and other companies own CCS. The Brothers Grimm are credited with Thousand Furs. I own this story. DO NOT STEAL! As has already been proven I can be very vindictive and blood-thirsty when I am upset and will flame and send out flamers to anyone who steals my story.  
  
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Syaoran sighed as he sat gazing at Sakura's delicate face as she slept. The poor girl had had quite a bad experience. He was only too happy that he managed to be at the right place at the right time to save her, but he shuddered at the thought of what might have happened had he not been there to stop the inebriated lord. He wished there was a way he could help the girl. Place her in a position that would keep her safe but still allow him to see her. Syaoran supposed he could always get her accepted as a lady's maid for one of his sisters, but he was fairly sure that would be a bad idea. His sisters nearly drove him crazy sometimes and even as sweet tempered as Sakura was, he wasn't sure if even she could put up with their antics.  
  
He glanced around the room and found what he saw depressing. The room was small and cramped but he supposed that was to be expected of a scullery maid's room and Sakura was lucky to even have her own private room. The room was dark, lit only by a small window that faced a thicket of trees with small slits of sunlight streaming weakly through. There were very few furnishings in the room. The bed Sakura slept on was pushed into a corner and at the foot of the bed was a small chest. The chair he was sitting on had to be brought in from the kitchen. The emptiness and shabbiness of the room help to reinforce to Syaoran just how different the their circumstances were. Syaoran was the king of the country and Sakura was a scullery maid, one of the lowest ranking servants in the castle.   
  
Syaoran walked over to the small chest at the foot of Sakura's bed. He remembered the day when he had found her in the woods. His huntsmen thought that she was some exotic and rare animal and had tried to capture her. Syaoran was more than a little shocked to find it had been a girl and enraged when he found out about the Draconian Kingdom's attack on the peaceful Florian Kingdom. Even before he got to know her, something about the young girl drew Syaoran to her. She had looked so vulnerable back then with her tear-stained face, dirty and ripped clothing, and clutching desperately to a bag that probably contained all she had left in the world. The memory of Sakura back then wretched at Syaoran's heart. He never wanted to ever see her like that again and he never wanted to see her with the fear on her face like earlier that day.  
  
He wondered if the contents of the bag were now inside the chest. He stared at the chest and debated opening it up. Curiosity waged war with honor. What was so important to Sakura that while fleeing for her life she had thought to pack up and bring with her? If he opened the chest, would he learn more about the girl and her past? Would he find out about the mysterious sadness in her eyes? His hand slowly reached down to open the chest, but it stopped as his conscience yelled at him. What was he doing? Had he no honor thinking of invading Sakura's privacy as she laid on the bed after having gone through a terrible ordeal?  
  
Syaoran jerked his hand back quickly and resolutely turned away from the chest and walked over to Sakura's bedside. He would sit beside her until she woke, up then he would figure out a way to keep her safe. As a scullery maid she was at the mercy of any higher ranking servants and lords and nobles without the protection of anyone of importance except himself. But if he stepped in to help Sakura too often, then rumors would spread and Sakura may become pray to malicious gossip and he would have a hard time seeing her again, because Syaoran knew that if his mother found out about his interest in the scullery maid, then she would forbid him seeing Sakura again. He knew his love for the girl was hopeless but the friendship could be preserved. The only thing that bothered him was how could he do it and protect Sakura at the same time.   
  
Syaoran sighed wearily. He knew exactly how. If Sakura were to be one of his sisters' lady's maid then they would protect her. His sisters as frivolous and air-headed as they were, were also essentially kind and good-hearted. If he told them about Sakura and her experience with Lord Cander then he was sure they would take the girl in gladly and treat her well, even if they would drive her crazy with their inane chatter. He had no real choice. When Sakura awoke he was determined to talk to her about it.  
  
Unwillingly, Syaoran's eyes kept wondering to the little chest at the foot of Sakura's bed. So it was with extreme relief that Syaoran turned his attention to Sakura when the girl began to stir. Sakura began to moan softly in her sleep and Syaoran leaned in closer to hear what she was saying. "Poppa! Touya! Yukito! Tomoyo! Where are you? I don't want to be alone! I want to stay with you!" Tears started welling at the corners of her eyes and as Syaoran watched a few start trickling down her face he could feel his own eyes start to sting with sympathy for the girl.  
  
Again Syaoran wondered who this mysterious girl was. She claimed that she was only a maid but she seemed to have an air of nobility around her. He wondered who the people she had yelled fir in her sleep were. He knew he could ask her but he also knew she probably wouldn't answer him. Of their own accord his hands brushed a few wayward strands of hair from Sakura's face. The pain etched on the girl's face made Syaoran's heart ache. He wanted to wake her up and hold her in his arms telling her that everything was alright. She wasn't alone. She had him and he would always stay with her, but Syaoran knew that last thought would be a lie. He couldn't always be with her.   
  
"Sakura, wake up." Syaoran said, brushing the tears off of her face.  
  
Sakura's eyes slowly opened and she stared up at Syaoran. "Syaoran..." she whispered softly her eyes showing her confusion. "Where am I? This looks like my room, but what are you doing here?"  
  
Syaoran took a deep breath. He knew that this would be unpleasant. "Sakura, do you remember what happened?"  
  
"I was walking through the garden to our usual meeting place..." Sakura started to say then the rest of the morning's event's flew through her mind. "That lord, he stopped me and asked me what I was doing there."  
  
Syaoran watched the dawning horror on Sakura's face as she remembered the morning's events. He swore if he ever laid eyes on Cander again he would dismember the man limb by limb. "It's okay. You don't need to think about it anymore. I took care of him. He won't ever bother you again."  
  
"I tried to get away. I even kicked him the way my brother and Er...a friend told me to, but he got up too fast and he was too strong. If you hadn't come..." Sakura started to sob as the memories rushed at her.  
  
Syaoran stared down at Sakura sadly. He knew it would be improper for him to hold her and comfort her. His station in life and hers were too different. He couldn't always be there to protect her and comfort her like he wanted. But as he watched her cry heart-wrenching sobs of relief and fear he could not stop his body from moving forward and gathering her up in his arms. He held her head to his chest and murmured into her hair as he rocked her gently like a baby, "But I did come...so please don't cry Sakura. I can't stand to see you crying. It makes me feel like I am useless not being able to help you."  
  
Sakura was so light and she fit so perfectly in his arms that Syaoran never wanted to let her go. She felt so soft and vulnerable and it was all Syaoran could do to not crush her. He kissed her head softly and whispered comforting words into her hair. Her hair was dirty from all the kitchen grim, but beneath it, Syaoran's sensitive sense of smell caught a faint fragrance of roses that reminded him of Ying Fa. Ying Fa had felt just as perfect in his arms but she was gone now. There was only Sakura in his arms now and Syaoran knew that had he a choice between the stunningly beautiful and elegant Ying Fa and Sakura, he would choose Sakura. But he didn't have a choice.  
  
Sakura's sobs quieted as she listened to the soothing murmur of Syaoran's voice and the steady beating of his heart. She was safe. As long as Syaoran was with her she would be safe. She had been so scared when Cander had accosted her, but Syaoran had saved her. She remembered his tightly controlled voice as he ordered Cander to release her. Then the knowledge dawned on her. Syaoran had ORDERED Cander to release her. Cander had called Syaoran "Your Majesty" which meant Syaoran was the KING.  
  
Shock caused the slowly dying sobs to stop completely. Pushing herself gently away from Syaoran and off of his lap Sakura stared wide-eyed at him and said slowly, "You're the King? Why didn't you ever tell me?"  
  
Syaoran sighed. This was going to be interesting. Sakura didn't look mad at being deceived, but of course she also still seemed to be in a bit of shock. His experience with females and deceiving them was not good. The last time he remembered doing it was when he tried to lie to Xiefa about why he couldn't wear a horrible pink coat she had gotten him for his birthday. Xiefa saw right through him and he had to hide from her for a month for fear of the histrionics that she threw. Syaoran only hoped Sakura would not react like his sister. Lying was not going to help the situation and Syaoran knew he would not feel right lying to Sakura outright.  
  
Grinning sheepishly at her Syaoran tried for the light-hearted approach. "I had hoped you had forgotten about that." Sakura stared at him. Her normally gentle expression was starting to take on what Syaoran could only guess was a slightly irritated expression. He had to guess since he had never seen her irritated before.  
  
He tried to change tact. "You never asked? I mean you just assumed I was a lord and started calling me that, so I never actually lied to you or anything."  
  
Sakura's eyes narrowed as she glared at him and Syaoran gulped nervously as she told no COMMANDED him in such a regal tone that it would have done his mother proud, "That's not a very good excuse, your MAJESTY."  
  
Sakura very much reminded him of his mother at that moment and Syaoran wondered if all females had the ability to reduce males to intimidated little boys. Sakura apparently wanted the truth and at this point the truth couldn't hurt any more than Syaoran's prevaricating. "If you want the truth..."  
  
"The truth would be nice." Sakura said her face changing back to its normal gentle expression.  
  
"The truth is that I enjoyed being around you. I enjoyed the fact that you accepted me as myself and not the king and I didn't want to intimidate you or scare you away from being my friend. I wanted someone that liked me for myself. For some reason, it seemed better for you to think of me as just some lord that could be low ranking even rather than someone like the king." Syaoran told her not willing to look at her directly as he barred his heart to her. He could feel his cheeks warming and cursed his tendency to blush. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but to be honest given the choice again I would do the same thing because it gave me a chance to get to know you."  
  
Sakura looked at Syaoran thoughtfully. She considered if she was still a princess and Syaoran was a kitchen boy. If he did not know who she was, would she have told him if she felt there was the risk of scaring him away? Honesty was important in everything, from friendship to more intimate relationships, but a superficial truth such as titles were nowhere near as important as knowing the person and Sakura knew Syaoran. He was the kind young man that had saved her and befriended her despite her low station and he was the one person that she loved most. Sakura did not know how it happened. She just knew that she loved him, but loved him or not she was no longer a princess and he was still a king, they could not be together except in this secret friendship. That combined with the fact that she wasn't being truthful with Syaoran either made his deception not too bad.  
  
Syaoran held his breath as Sakura thought about his answer. He released it when she looked up at him and smiled. "I forgive you. You were right in that I just assumed you were a lord and I wasn't being fair to you. I owe you a lot especially for today."  
  
Syaoran's eyes darkened. "Hopefully something like today will never happen again. I've exiled Cander, unofficially but if he has any sense he'll stay away or I'll tear him limb from limb next time I see him for trying to harm you. He isn't even worthy to touch you Sakura."  
  
"Thank-you." Sakura answered.  
  
Seeing the slightly haunted expression return to Sakura's face Syaoran tried to ask her something to distract her, "Err...Sakura you mentioned that you kicked Cander like your brother taught you, how was that?"  
  
Sakura looked confused then told him with an innocent and straight-face, "I kneed him between the legs. He collapsed from it, but he got back up and was really angry."  
  
Syaoran's eyes widened and then he started to chuckle until the chuckles became full-blown laughter. Sakura just stared at him confused. He started gasping for breath and then choking turning a bright shade of red.   
  
"Syao..Your Majesty, are you all right?" Sakura asked rushing up to Syaoran and attempting to pound him on the back to rid him of whatever he was choking on, though Sakura didn't know whether choking on laughter was hazardous to your health or not.  
  
"I'm fine and it's Syaoran. We've gone through this before. Nothing's changed."  
  
"Syaoran then." Sakura said smiling happily.  
  
"Did you kick him hard?"  
  
"Hoe?"  
  
"Cander, did you kick him hard?"  
  
"As hard as I could though it didn't seem to do much good."  
  
Grinning Syaoran told her, "Trust me it did some good. I imagine Cander might still be in some pain though I'll remember not to ever get you mad at me or mad enough to use those tactics."  
  
"I don't understand. Is there some reason that kicking someone there would hurt a lot? Touya just told me to do it but didn't tell me why. When I asked him he just blushed a bit and told me to just do it if I was ever in that situation."  
  
"It only hurts if you're a man."  
  
"Why?" Sakura asked innocently.  
  
Syaoran started turning red again and this time not from lack of air. "It just does Sakura. You might find out sometime later."  
  
"Why can't you tell me?"  
  
"It's embarrassing."  
  
"Oh..." Sakura said still confused but not wanting to embarrass Syaoran anymore. He was already as red as a tomato.  
  
Trying to get back his composure but thankful the haunted look was off of Sakura's face, Syaoran attempted to broach the subject of Sakura being a lady's maid to his sister. "Sakura, you know as long as you're a scullery maid, you will be vulnerable to cads like Cander. Wouldn't it be better if I got you a position working for one of my sisters? That way you'll be under their protection."  
  
Sakura bit her lip and thought about Syaoran's suggestion. She might be safer from drunken noblemen like Lord Cander, but would she be in more danger from her true enemies like spies from the Draconian kingdom? If she was serving a princess she would be more visible. "I want to stay here."  
  
"The work won't be anything so difficult and although my sisters are eccentric they are very nice and good at heart." Syaoran tried to persuade her.  
  
"The people her in the kitchens are very nice. I want to stay here." Sakura insisted stubbornly.  
  
"I could order you to. It'll be safer for you." Syaoran threatened glaring at her for being so stubborn. couldn't she see he only wanted to make her life easier and protect her.  
  
"I'll be more careful from now on and I'll be just as safe working here, maybe safer since I won't attract anyone's attention. Please don't order me to Syaoran."  
  
"Are you sure about this Sakura?" Syaoran knew he couldn't order her to accept the position he was offering. It would ruin the friendship they had established and thrust upon Sakura the inferiority of her position relative to him and Syaoran knew he could not stand to watch Sakura acting subservient to him.  
  
"I'm very sure." Sakura told him proudly.  
  
Despite the ugly dress she was wearing, Syaoran thought Sakura looked like a queen. "I give up then, but if anyone ever tries to harm you promise me you'll tell me?"  
  
"I promise." Sakura said smiling and gathered up her courage. She walked over to his dejected looking figure and stood on her tippy-toes giving him a soft peck on the cheek. "Thank-you."  
  
The feel of Sakura's soft lips on Syaoran's skin made his heart skip a beat. He stared down at her in shock and barely refrained from reaching out to pull her into his embrace and feel those soft lips on his own rather than just on his cheeks. Maybe Sakura loved him as more than a friend. If she did what then? He still couldn't be with her as anything more and even the friendship was improper.  
  
Sakura blushed as Syaoran gazed at her. "Err...I must have been a asleep for a while. I should go back to helping Chiharu." So saying she tried to brush past Syaoran quickly and head back o the kitchens.  
  
Syaoran touched his cheek where Sakura had kissed him and smiled, even if he could not marry Sakura, he could still spend time with her and be her friend. Even if someday soon he had to find some noble-woman to marry and Sakura might end up marrying some farmer or a castle servant, for now the future did not matter. She was with him and Syaoran knew she cared for him.  
  
  
  
Syaoran started to leave the tiny room to go back to his duties as king, but as he was leaving his eyes caught sight of the small chest. Before he could think about it anymore Syaoran averted his eyes and left the room.  
  
**********  
  
Next chapter look forward to seeing a bit of E+T. I have nothing planned out since I never plan out my stories, but I do plan on going back to Flora for at least part of a chapter. I'll skip past some time and will likely cover the next major ball soon and it'll be a fun one. It'll be our dear Syaoran's birthday. If I have my way i.e. my muse cooperates with me I will hopefully get the chapter/s on Syaoran's birthday ball out on his birthday. 


	16. Heart's Treasures: Part 14

Heart's Treasures: Part 14

By: Starlight Rose  
Email: Clamp owns all CCS characters. The Brother's Grimm owns this fairy tale and I own very little other than this story.

A.N. So...it's been a long time, huh? looks around at angry mobs I'm really sorry but I had a massive writer's block and just did not feel like writing. Also I've been busy with college, friends, and MMORPGs. I won't say when the next chapter will come out. I'm not even sure if I will continue writing though I will try. So this chapter has no S+S but lots of E+T. I kind of want to get that out of the way since I'm not really good with that relationship. I'm not even sure they are in character here and that was part of my writer's block. Hopefully thing will go more smoothly now and you'll see an update before another two years have passed. Well enjoy. BTW if anyone is going to AWA, I'll be there as Fukushima Kinu from the series Raimuiro Senkitan (yes, i know it's also an H-game). Look for Thao Nguyen on the badge if you wanna say hi.

"Prince...Prince Eriol! What are you doing here? Should I announce you?" A shocked guard asked the raven-haired prince of the Magicka Kingdom.

"No need. This is only a brief visit. I won't be staying long." Eriol replied smiling he usual mysteriously knowledgeable smile as he brushed past the guard into the throne room.

"But...but..." The guard tried to stutter to him but Eriol had already opened the throne room doors and slipped in.

The young Florian king, Touya looked up from a document he was perusing with his advisors peering annoyingly over his shoulders to see the tall figure of Prince Eriol walk into the room. He glared at the young man and asked bluntly, "Didn't your governess ever teach you that it is not polite to enter someone else's room without knocking or at least announcing yourself?"

Eriol chuckled, "She did, but I just did not listen very carefully to those lessons on etiquette. Plus this is not your private room, it's the public throne room and throne room etiquette was one part of my early education I made sure to ignore."

"I am a very busy person Hiiragizawa especially since my father has handed over the throne to me. What did you need to see me for?" Touya growled.

"May I have a private audience with only you and Lord Tsukishiro?" Eriol asked.

Touya nodded at the courtiers and advisors surrounding him and the group gathered up their sheafs of paper and stomped out of the room glaring balefully at Eriol for not allowing them to stay to hear whatever tidbit of information he brought. Of course they all knew that he was reporting about the missing princess, but she was their princess too and they deserved to hear any reports about her as much as anyone else.

"Alright. They are all gone. What do you want Hiiragizawa?" Touya asked staring the other young man straight in the eye. Touya did not trust the boy. He knew that Hiiragazawa loved his sister as much as he did and wanted to find her as much as he did, but there was something about the boy that had always set him on edge. Looking at him, Touya decided it was the smile. It was too easy going and mysterious like a mask rather than a real smile. Touya would have preferred a frown to Hiiragizawa's smile.

Eriol's smile dropped slightly as he stared right back at Touya, "I have just returned from Solaria."

"And?" Touya prompted when the Magickan Prince seemed disinclined to continue.

"And the first few days I was there, my search turned up fruitless."

Touya sighed, "So not in Solaria either then. Where could Sakura be?"

"Don't jump to conclusions yet, To-ya." Yukito told his friend. "Prince Hiiragizawa had to have had a reason for telling us to dismiss everyone."

"You mean other than to just annoy them?" Eriol asked with a smirk. "Actually I do."

Touya could not help smiling at that since there were times he wished he could do things just to annoy his courtiers and advisors. He raised an eyebrow and asked bluntly, "Well? Are you planning on telling us anytime this century? I said before, I am a busy man."

"I just got back from Solaria." Eriol stated calmly.

"And?"

"There was no news initially even though I searched most of the countryside and the cities. Solaria's a big kingdom. Probably as big as Flora and Fauna combined so it took me and my men a while to search it. I was returning to the capital city to pay my respects to the king and queen of Solaria since they get really stuck on the proprieties there and would have been dreadfully offended had I not, when I ran into a courtier I had not met yet.

I decided to talk to the lady to find out about the political situation in Solaria to see if they might be receptive to an alliance. Apparently they were not since they had just had a delegation return from Fauna where they had tried to form an alliance with that kingdom and I assume that the Faunian King and King's Mother had refused their terms for an alliance and rightly so I might add. No reasonable self-respecting kingdom would agree to terms such as the Solarians propose.

The lady I talked to had been a part of that delegation though she had not been involved in the alliance negotiations, but she had attended a ball there."

"Hiiragizawa..." Touya growled, "While your information about the Solarians is quite interesting I thought you meant to tell me about your news of the search for my baby sister! So either tell me that you found some information or leave me to my work and tell me this stuff at a later time."

"I was getting there." Eriol complained throwing Touya an offended look. "As I said, the lady had attended the Summer Solstice festivities in Fuana along with the rest of the Solarian delegates. Like here in Flora the Summer Solstice ball in Fuana is a masquerade ball. It was towards the middle of the ball when everyone had already arrived when a mysterious young lady appeared in the doorway. The lady I spoke too was very reluctant to admit that the mysterious arrival was extremely beautiful from what she could see of her and had made quite an entrance since even the Fuanan King who is reported to think most females are insipid and shallow approached her and asked her to dance."

"What are you getting at? Who was the girl?" Touya asked his eyes narrowing as he finally caught the point of Hiiragizawa's story.

"No one knows. She danced one dance with the king then fled the ballroom and no one could find a trace of her. There were rumors that she might be some ghost going about but that is fairly ridiculous. The description I got of her from the lady and various other people I decided to talk to after I heard the story said she had long silky auburn hair and green eyes. She was wearing a silvery dress that glowed with the soft ethereal light of the moon. It was dark midnight blue with silver moons embroidered all over it and the cloth it was made from added to its glow." Eriol said looking intently at Touya waiting for him to draw his conclusions.

"Sakura...it has to be Sakura with a description like that. There are so few people with green eyes and that dress she was wearing. It must be one of the ones Tomoyo gave her on her birthday."

Eriol nodded, "I thought so too, but now there is still the problem of where is she and how is she remaining hidden. If the mysterious stranger was Sakura then she is either in Fauna or Solaria though I am leaning towards Fauna. Solaria is rather far away and I find it hard to believe Sakura managed to get all the way there without being discovered."

"I agree though I'll send some of my people to check around Solaria as well. I will make a personal visit to Fauna to search for Sakura myself." Touya stated standing up, preparing to issue orders that would allow him to go search for his beloved baby sister.

"With all due respect your majesty, that is not a good idea." Eriol told him.

Touya glared at the young prince, "Why ever not, your highness?"

"Your men do not have permission from the Solarians to conduct a search within that kingdom's borders and you and I both know how difficult the Solarians can be and how easy they are to take offense. Getting the permission needed to search within their borders will take a few months. Months which I think you would rather not wait. My men do however have the resources and capacity to search within Solaria and if there is any information on Sakura in Solaria they will find it. I have already dispatched some of my best information gatherers to Solaria."

"Prince Hiiragizawa has a point To-ya." Yukito interjected to forestall any of his friend's objections.

"What about the search in Fauna?" Touya asked finally sitting back down on his throne.

"Even more inadvisable." Eriol replied promptly. "The young Faunian King is turning seventeen and there will be a big celebration in his honor. You would just be wasting your time trying to dig up information on Sakura during the preparation and festivities especially within the castle itself. I have already search Fauna but apparently not nearly carefully enough. This time I will check everything that I am allowed to check. Though of course the line is drawn at the royal family's private quarters."

"Why can I not go search for my baby sister myself?" Touya asked.

"Our kingdom and the Faunians have never been on good terms with one another. Although we were never at war or hostile with one another no friendship or alliance has ever been promoted." Yukito answered.

"Though promoting an alliance between the two kingdoms might be advisable. Although my kingdom is not formally allied with the Faunians our kingdoms have always been on a bit friendlier terms thanks in part to having shared bloodlines."

"Other than making searching for Sakura easier what would an alliance achieve?"

Eriol smiled sadly, "Having allies is always useful, but I have had some disturbing reports from my spies that the Draconians and the Noctrus Kingdoms are contemplating an alliance. If those two kingdoms unite our kingdoms stand no chance of winning against them without another kingdom's help and I believe the Faunians are the ideal candidates. The Solarians are protected by their geography and a very strong army as well as navy. They apparently have no wish to form any equal alliances."

"Do you have spies in every kingdom?" Touya asked exasperated.

"Only in the ones I don't trust."

"I'll refrain from asking if you have spies here."

"Very wise, your majesty. Now if you will excuse me I have a young lady waiting to hear my news on her best friend." Eriol said before bowing and leaving the room.

Touya sighed as the Magickan prince left the room. "I wish they were all still those mischief makers that followed us around. Why do they have to grow up Yukito? Things were so much simpler back then."

"You're talking like an old man To-ya." Yukito replied looking at him worriedly.

"I feel like an old man. You notice it too don't you?"

"Yes..."

"Does it worry you? Hiiragazawa and Sakura are basically officially engaged as soon as Sakura is found."

"Things will work themselves out somehow. Tomoyo is like a sister to me too, I would not see her hurt, and for all his eccentricities Prince Eriol has a good heart."

"A good heart that seems to be falling for Tomoyo and while I can't say it wouldn't be a good match, there is still the engagement. I want my little sister back, but I worry about those two."

"We'll find Sakura and things will work themselves out. Tomoyo deserves to be loved and Sakura deserves a husband that will love her most."

"I hope you're right Yuki."

Eriol walked into the Florain gardens in search of a certain lavender haired lady. The gardens had miraculously survived most of the depredations of the war and were now in full summer bloom. Roses proliferated throughout the gardens splashing the landscape with a myriad of colors. The gardens were a beautiful sight indeed.

He found her sitting below the shade of an apple tree overlooking a particularly pretty patch of flowers. Walking up to her he noticed her eyes were closed peacefully in repose. Eriol's breath caught in his throat as he looked at her perfect features. Trying not to wake her he sat down next to her and watched her sleeping face. A strong desire to touch her pale skin overwhelmed him and he reached out a hand gently caressing her cheek and traced his fingers to her tempting lips surprised she hadn't woken up yet.

Sighing softly, he removed his hand from her face and placed them on her shoulders shaking her gently awake. He hated waking her up and disturbing the brief time he had to just watch her, but he knew she would want to hear the news directly from him and his time in Flora was short. "Tomoyo..." he called out softly. No title, just Tomoyo, his Tomoyo.

Tomoyo felt someone shaking her gently and calling her name in a gentle affectionate tone. Opening her eyes she met midnight blue orbs overflowing with emotions she wasn't sure she could handle. "Eriol..." she instinctively whispered. The color in his eyes darkened in response to her calling him by his name. Not able to look into his eyes and see all those feeling he was directing at her any longer, Tomoyo turned away. "Prince Eriol," this time said more clearly as if reestablishing their relationship, "What are you doing here?"

Eriol drew away from the girl a bit and barely managed to keep himself from wincing at her formal tone. His face became a smiling mask once more. "I came to tell you I have news of Sakura or we think it's Sakura."

"You know where she is? Please tell me!" Tomoyo replied turning quickly back around to face Eriol and colliding into his chest in the process.

Eriol's arms automatically went up around her to keep her from rebounding off him. But instead of releasing her he tightened his hold on her instead. "We need to talk about something else first, Tomoyo." Eriol stated firmly.

"But..." Tomoyo tried to say but was silenced as Eriol quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I promise I will tell you the news but we need to talk first. You know I care about you...a lot actually. I'm rather surprised by how much I like you and I think you feel the same way so don't you think it's about time we stop this farce?"

"It's not so simple Prince Eriol and you know it. You're engaged to Sakura."

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that. King Fujitaka has released me from the engagement if I wish. He wants the both of us to be happy. He loves you like a daughter Tomoyo. I told him I would consider it but to not cancel the engagement yet."

"Why?"

"If the engagement is canceled it will appear as if we have given up on finding Sakura. I told him to wait a year. I promise you that I WILL find Sakura, no matter what it takes, even if I have to turn all of the six kingdoms inside-out, I will bring Sakura back to you."

"Thank you." Tomoyo uttered stunned by his ferocity.

"I ask you to promise me something in return. Either after Sakura is found or after the year I asked King Fujitaka to wait, whichever comes first we will discuss these feelings. No more pretending and hiding. Also stop calling me Prince Eriol. Sakura always called me Eriol, and you can do the same. I'm not going to stop calling you Tomoyo anymore."

Tomoyo took a deep breath trying to clear her head. The feel of his solid chest against her and his warm arms around her was not making thinking easier. She knew that she was falling for the enigmatic prince over the past few months and tried to stop herself but couldn't. But so much more was involved in all this than just her feelings. "What about the alliance?" She finally asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong you are part of the royal family so should we get married and that is what I am hoping will come of our discussion, then the terms would be fulfilled. Besides our countries' alliance is a very strong one based on mutual trust and friendship. This is just a formality. No one will stand in-between a love-match and any that dare will deal with me and I can be very persuasive." Eriol responded dangerously.

Sighing in defeat Tomoyo nodded her head. "I agree. You can let go of me now I won't run."

"But I enjoy holding you." Eriol responded innocently.

"Prince Eriol! Let me go!" Tomoyo commanded regally.

"See you already have that air of command that a future queen needs."

"Eriol..." Tomoyo said sweetly her hands moving up his chest. She lifted her face at him smiling seductively, "Aren't you going to kiss me to seal our deal?"

"Gladly." the prince murmured lowering his face to hers a bit suspicious of her suddenly sweet tone, but ignoring it for a chance to kiss her. As his lips were about to contact hers he suddenly felt the violet-eyed girl pull coil in his arms and her hands gave a hard shove to his chest knocking him backwards and tumbling in surprise.

Dusting herself up Tomoyo stood up and smiled sweetly at him. "Are you okay Prince Eriol?"

"You're doing that just to annoy me aren't you?"

"Doing what?"

"Calling me Prince Eriol."

"It's only proper. Why would I ever want to annoy you? Now are you going to tell me about Sakura?"

"You're not as sweet as you look. How about a trade? I tell you about Sakura if you give me that kiss that you were asking for."

"I'll go ask Touya." Tomoyo replied ready to storm off though she was trying hard to suppress a smile.

"How mean." Eriol complained standing up. "Fine I'll tell you about Sakura now. Just don't leave. I only have this afternoon in Flora and I'd rather spend it with you here than in the throne room with King Touya glaring at me."

Tomoyo turned back around to face him smiling brightly at her victory. She held her hand out to him as a peace offering. Eriol took her hand and pulled her to him. With an evil smile his head swooped down and kissed her softly before pulling back.

The gardens were really lovely that afternoon.

So that's my pitiful attempt at E+T. I'll be going back to familiar ground with Sakura and Syaoran in the next chapter. Please leave your comments b/c if not for them this project would be completely abandoned.


	17. Heart's Treasures: Part 15

Heart's Treasures: Chapter 15

By: Starlight Rose

Email: Clamp, Kodansha and other companies own CCS. The Brothers Grimm are credited with Thousand Furs. I own this story.

A.N. So it's been exactly a year since my last update. I can't promise that this chapter would have been worth the wait. A lot of scenes played out differently in my head than on paper and taking such long breaks between each chapter makes it harder to keep track of what is going on. Quite honestly I'm not even sure my writing style is the same. I've been in a mood to write lately (probably because I've been bored out of my mind). I decided to go back and read reviews left for this story and I started realizing just how many people enjoyed it. It made me want to try to finish it up no matter how agonizingly long it might take. I really appreciate all the support everyone who has followed this story has given me. Reading a lot of the reviews game me warm fuzzies that I transfered into inspiration for writing. You guys should also thank my boyfriend for telling me that I should at least try to release another chapter at the one year mark. I realized that I may write for my own enjoyment, but I post it for others and its just plain rude to get people involved in a story and then leave them hanging and so I will try not to do that to everyone especially all the people that have given me so much support and attention. I will freely admit I'm an attention whore. So on with the story. Warning not much happens here, just some introspective stuff mostly.

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A few weeks had passed since Sakura's incident with the inebriated lord and for the most part things were back to normal. True the king tended to occasionally poke his head into the kitchen searching for a snack and maybe a certain scullery maid much more often than may have been normal, but he was a growing active young man who needed his nutrition. Most of the kitchen staff got accustomed to working under his intense amber gaze once they learned that he was not there to monitor them and he was not going to dismiss them. Several them even found it amusing when Chiharu would occasionally threaten to chop off his hand if he stole another slice of this or that dessert. Most of the servants were just relieved to see their formerly aloof king seem...well human and approachable even if his reasons for being there seemed obscure to most. Chiharu knew his true reason for visiting the kitchens everyday as well as the scandal it could cause so she kept her mouth shut and just watched. She watched the king's normally cold exterior melt and soften whenever he looked at Thousand Furs. She knew nothing good could come of the relationship and in the end feelings would just be hurt, but she could no more stop it as she could stop the seasons from changing. She could make sure no one else knew though and give the two more time with each other.

Syaoran meanwhile knew he was being paranoid and overprotective constantly popping down to the kitchens whenever he was not in a meeting with his councilors or diplomats but he could not stand to see the terror in Sakura's eyes again. He knew it would have broken his heart and he in turn would have ripped out the heart of any dastard that dared touch a hair on her sweet head. He still had his daily meetings in the garden with Sakura where it was just the two of them and sometimes Keroberus though now he made sure to get there early and check to make sure no one who could interrupt or endanger Sakura's happiness was around. He was happy when he was around Sakura. She had the ability to make him feel special just because he was himself, Syaoran Li, and not because he was the king of Fauna.

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Yelan had noticed the remarkable change in her son over the past few months. No longer was he sullen about going to the endless meetings and councils that required his attendance but he went to them with the proper sense of duty. He seemed to have finally realized that taking care of the people of the kingdom was his responsibility and he managed to be attentive and patient through all but the most trying ones. The only time he really got surly was when state visitors came for visits and lavish banquets were held in their honor or whenever he missed lunch. Syaoran had never liked state dinners and their formality so the first was understandable, but Yelan had yet to figure out why he got so grumpy over missing lunch. It was not like he could not just order lunch to be brought to him afterwards which he generally did.

She had heard from the palace servants that recently her son had taken a liking to going to the gardens during for his lunch and that he dismissed all the gardeners when he went there. Her afternoon was free so she decided to go to the gardens and seek out her son. Maybe she could find out why he had changed so drastically in the past few months.

She searched in the normal garden paths that were now lined with beautiful rose bushes in full bloom. He was not there. She decided instead to search among the shaded area where the fruit trees were found. Her son had always had an affinity for sitting in trees that Yelan never quite understood. Her slippered feet made no sounds as it they walked through the soft summer grass. Everything was peaceful underneath the shade of the trees. Yelan could see why her son would enjoy it there with the serenity that pervaded the place. The sun shone through a few gaps in the leaves leaving dapples of sunlight to spot the ground, but the shade prevailed and allowed that area to be cooler than the rest of the gardens.

She thought she heard Syaoran's voice coming from up ahead and she continued on her path. When she got there she stopped short. Her son was sitting under one of the trees with a book spread out on his lap. The girl had soft reddish-brown hair and she sat upon an odd fur coat that looked to be patched from the fur of multiple animals. Her face was covered in soot and the rough material of her clothes showed her to be a servant, most likely from the kitchens. The king should not be having such friendly relations with a mere scullery maid. Yelan frowned but softly walked closer. She wanted to know what was going on with her son and this seemed to be the answer.

Yelan could not make out what was being said between the two of them, but she could see their faces better from where she now stood. The girl lifted her face from the book and Yelan saw herself looking at the most startlingly bright emerald-green eyes she had ever seen. The shape of the face and the eyes tugged at her memory. They were vaguely familiar as if she had seen them long ago but in a different setting. Who was this girl? She could not be from Fauna. Those eyes were just too unique for Yelan to have not noticed someone with them before and it was not a color found among Faunians. She could see how eyes like those could captivate her son especially since they were also his favorite color.

Then she saw Syaoran smile, the most tender, affectionate smile she had ever seen grace her son's usually scowling face. The regal queen froze where she stood. It had been so long since she had seen her son smile at all. Syaoran used to smile when he was a child. It was infrequent for he was always a serious child, but they stopped altogether when he was eight. That was the year his father died and Syaoran had become king of a country that he was too young to take care of. His childhood had been taken from him and those precious smiles that were so few before never appeared again. This girl was precious to her son for him to smile at her.

Looking back at the girl, Yelan knew that her face would haunt her for days as she tried to figure out why it looked so familiar. She wanted to go out there and pull the two children apart telling them that it could not work. They could not develop feelings for one another but another glance at her son's face told her it was useless. Her son was raised to know his duties. No matter what he might have felt for the girl, Yelan knew nothing would come of it so telling him would serve no purpose except to make him more bitter at her.

Life had taught the woman that patience is often rewarded and the queen decided that this might be one of those times. She slipped quietly away, leaving as unnoticed as she had come. She would wait to see what became of this relationship because she was just as much a mother as she was a queen and she could not bear to be the one to break her son's heart. There was something odd about the girl and until Yelan knew more about her, she would wait.

However, Yelan was not the type to wait idly. She would take precautions. Syaoran's birthday was in a week. She would prepare a ball to celebrate his seventeenth birthday. Princesses and ladies from all around would be invited of course. Her son would get to look through them and choose a potential bride. The ball and the birthday would serve as a reminder to Syaoran about their agreement. He had one year to find a "suitable" bride. A girl that was of noble birth and would lend credence to her husband through her family connections. A girl raised to be queen. If he could not find one by his eighteenth birthday then Yelan would select one for him. She hoped it would not come to that for Yelan did not want to be the cause of Syaoran's misery for the rest of his life, but love was hard to find amongst the nobility that married for money and connections. If one was lucky love would come  
later, but those few lucky ones were hard to find.

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Word of the ball spread quickly and the entire castle was in an uproar as they tried to prepare for the ball. The entire castle had to be cleaned then decorated with festoons of flowers and green and gold ribbons. The servants were up early every day dusting, sweeping, scrubbing, and waxing until every surface shone. The gardeners were picking the most beautiful blooms to put into flower arrangements and to be woven into the festoons. For the entire week the servants worked from sun up to sun down with the queen and the king's sisters supervising.

In the kitchens things were no less hectic. Food had to be prepared for the actual banquet day. Whatever could be done in advance was. Cakes were baked, meat was prepared and seasoned, soups were set to simmer, vegetables were cleaned. Everything that would not spoil was done several days prior to the ball. It was through this that Sakura had learned of Syaoran's birthday and Sakura was furious.

Sakura had been so busy with the preparations for the ball that she had not been able to get to their meeting spot in several days. She made sure to to ask Chiharu for an hour that afternoon and finished her tasks early to ensure she could go. Chiharu did not have the heart to stop the girl, and considered letting Thousand Furs go as her gift to the king.

When Sakura walked down the familiar path to their meeting place as she enjoyed the shade of the trees that no longer bore beautiful flowers but instead lush green leaves. She saw Syaoran standing there waiting for her and her heart leaped for a second before she remembered that she was mad at him.

Hearing footsteps approaching Syaoran turned around with a smile ready for her. He had missed her. He had started hating these large balls and banquets more since he had started getting to know Sakura and spending time with her. Time with Sakura was precious to him and he resented anything that prevented his daily meetings with her. They had finished teaching each other about their respective subjects weeks ago and now just spent time together talking or reading whatever subject Syaoran had been studying earlier that day, be it politics, philosophy, poetry, or just a novel. It was the one thing he looked forward to each day and the one thing that could brighten a bad day.

As Syaoran saw Sakura's face his smile faltered. Having four sisters had taught Syaoran to look for the warning signs that a female was mad at him and Sakura looked furious. Her eyes were narrowed as she glared at him and her cheeks were puffed out like she was breathing slowly to contain her temper. She looked rather cute like that, Syaoran noted from the part of his brain that was not panicking over what he could have done to make Sakura upset with him.

"Before you get mad at me and start screaming and yelling please tell me what I did so I can try to explain myself!" Syaoran yelped out quickly holding his hands up defensively.

"Syaoran! Tomorrow's your birthday!" Sakura yelled pouting at the king.

"I'm sorry Sakura. I know this ball is a lot of extra work for everyone and if I could have stopped it I would have, but this was my mothers idea." Syaoran rushed to apologize.

"I'm not mad about the ball you dummy!"

"Then what are you mad about?" Syaoran asked confused but a corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. Other than his family only his Sakura would call the king a dummy even if she did not realize it.

"I'm mad because I found out tomorrow was your birthday because of the ball." Sakura said looking at him like he was simple-minded. "YOU didn't tell me it was your birthday."

"It's just a birthday Sakura. It's nothing special. I didn't know that you would care." Syaoran replied carelessly.

"Of course I care Syaoran. It's your birthday it's a very important and special day because you were born on it." Sakura protested.

Syaoran looked at her confused again. "Um...Sakura, that's the definition of a birthday...it doesn't explain why it's special." He really was feeling like the dummy she called him earlier because he really could not understand where her logic was leading.

"Syaoran, the day you were born is important because it means you exist. If you were never born you would never have existed and then I would have never met you and become friends with you. Although I wouldn't have known what I was missing if I hadn't met you, I am glad I met you. I think somewhere deep down I would have known something was missing from my life even if I didn't know what it was." Sakura said but her words were beginning to be choked by sobs because Syaoran did not realize how important he was as a person and just the thought of not having met Syaoran even if it took a tragedy to allow her the chance made Sakura's heart ache in a strange way.

Syaoran stared at the girl in shock as her shoulders shook and tears leaked from her eyes. His heart aching at seeing her tears, he reach out and pulled her close to him. His arms automatically wrapped around her slender frame and he brushed his cheek against her hair murmuring, "I'm sorry. I am a dummy for not realizing it. I'm very glad I met you too Sakura. You're the best thing that has ever happened to be. Being born coming close after that so that I had the chance to meet you. Please don't cry Sakura. I'll hate myself if you're crying because I was a dummy."

"I'm sorry Syaoran. I'm just being silly crying like this over nothing." Sakura told him in between sobs, but she was feeling better just being in his arms. She clung to him wetting the front of his shirt with her tears until her sobs finally subsided.

Reluctantly letting her go Syaoran asked gently, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Much! Now I need to figure out what to give you for your birthday. Any ideas?"

"Your friendship is the best thing I've ever received. It's better than all the gold and jewels in the world. I know it sounds trite and cliche, but you like me as myself and not as my title."

"Not good enough. It's your birthday so I want to get you something even if it's not big. Please tell me what do you really want." Sakura pleaded turning her big green eyes to him.

"What do I really want?" Syaoran asked himself. "I want to be someone else. Someone normal and not the king. I want to be able to leave the castle without a retinue of guards and I want...I want to spend time with you."

"Maybe we can do that or for part of the day." Sakura said cheerfully as an idea came to her. She and Tomoyo used to sneak out of the palace all the time by dressing themselves as maids and pretending to be going shopping. It was always nice to be outside the castle among her people without everyone bowing to her and without all the unwanted attention that came with being royalty. She would just need to get Takashi's cooperation and Chiharu's permission. "Can you meet me out here a bit before sunrise tomorrow?"

Today was just not his day Syaoran decided. Sakura had been confusing him left and right since he saw her and he had inadvertently made her cry by being an idiot. He was now back to having no clue what the girl was talking about. "I suppose I could. I can probably get out of doing paperwork and sitting in councils because it's my birthday."

"Good. I'll see you then. I promise tomorrow will be a good day and I'll make your birthday wish come true Syaoran!" Sakura's eyes sparkled with excitement as she began making plans for tomorrow. She quickly gave Syaoran a hug and ran off to start initiating said plans.

Syaoran just sighed and walked back to the castle. He hadn't gotten to spend but thirty minutes with Sakura and the entire time she had either been angry at him or crying. Today, hell this week, had just really not been a good one.

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A.N. How was it? Good, bad, awful? Should I bash my head against a wall and keep going hopefully getting at least one chapter a year or just give up because no one really cares anymore and I would not disappoint anyone. Or have I already disappointed everyone because my style has changed so much that it's not the same anymore. Please give feedback. Oh yeah, next chapter if it comes out will be about Syaoran's birthday. Still trying to decide if I want it to be one or two chapters. I'll decide on that once I actually start writing it. 


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